Successful disability management programs can save a company considerable benefit costs
What does it take to create a successful disability management program? Answer the question correctly and HR will end up saving the organization considerable benefit costs. The following websites offer ways to minimize the impact and cost of disability to both the employer and the employee while promoting the worker’s return to work.
Help with case management
www.bcpublicservice.ca
The British Columbia Public Service Agency’s site provides a detailed section on disability case management. On the main page, go to the “Managers” tab and click on “Disability case management.” This section offers a step-by-step guide to four phases of managing health-related absence cases: “Identification,” “Medical assessment and treatment,” “Return-to-work planning” and “Implementation.” Guidelines outline the roles, responsibilities and activities involved in case management and return-to-work planning. Click on “Introduction” from the drop-down menu, then on the “Case management tools” menu on the left for examples of calendars, sample letters and a checklist entitled, “A process for managing to improve attendance.” The “Return-to-work planning” section includes information on steps to take in returning an employee to work after an absence and a return-to-work plan. This section also includes links in the left menu to “Reference guidelines,” including a job accommodation table that outlines common issues and job accommodations that can be implemented. There’s also a link to a document entitled “A manager’s guide to reasonable accommodation,” that includes accommodation scenarios as well as actual court cases.
Return-to-work checklist
www.psc.ca/irps_gtsws/manuals/pdffiles/rtw_audit_document.pdf
This PDF document on the WorkSafe Saskatchewan site is a good resource for getting a return-to-work (RTW) and disability management program started. It’s a questionnaire, developed by the National Institute of Disability Management and Research, that offers a checklist employers can fill out when implementing a program. The first part of the questionnaire is an extensive list of yes or no questions including, “Does your RTW policy statement clearly state the scope, principles and intent of your RTW program?” The second part involves return-to-work program implementation and requires written answers to questions such as, “How have you made everyone in the organization/company aware of your RTW policy statement?”
Mental health issues
www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca/june_2004/monitor_june2004.pdf
Although most disability management sites look at ways to help employees with physical disabilities, this one focuses on how to deal with employees experiencing mental health issues. This PDF document entitled The Roundtable Roadmap to Mental Disability Management, developed and released by the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, takes an in-depth look at issues associated with returning to work for employees who have dealt with mental illness. The “roadmap” was designed to help smooth the way back to employment for both employees and employers and contains practical suggestions to facilitate an effective mental disability management program.
A site to emulate
www.sfu.ca/human-resources/rtw/rtw-home.htm
B.C.’s Simon Fraser University posts information on its site about its Disability Management/Return to Work Office, which assists employees, supervisors and administrators with the management of wellness, sick leave, disability and return to work. The site offers a good example for organizations that may be planning to post similar information on external or internal websites. There are links to a “Summary of policies and procedures,” “Definitions” and a list of contacts in HR. The “Return to work” link has FAQs.
Ann Macaulay is a freelance editor and regular contributor to Canadian HR Reporter. Her Web Sight column appears regularly in the CloseUp section.
Help with case management
www.bcpublicservice.ca
The British Columbia Public Service Agency’s site provides a detailed section on disability case management. On the main page, go to the “Managers” tab and click on “Disability case management.” This section offers a step-by-step guide to four phases of managing health-related absence cases: “Identification,” “Medical assessment and treatment,” “Return-to-work planning” and “Implementation.” Guidelines outline the roles, responsibilities and activities involved in case management and return-to-work planning. Click on “Introduction” from the drop-down menu, then on the “Case management tools” menu on the left for examples of calendars, sample letters and a checklist entitled, “A process for managing to improve attendance.” The “Return-to-work planning” section includes information on steps to take in returning an employee to work after an absence and a return-to-work plan. This section also includes links in the left menu to “Reference guidelines,” including a job accommodation table that outlines common issues and job accommodations that can be implemented. There’s also a link to a document entitled “A manager’s guide to reasonable accommodation,” that includes accommodation scenarios as well as actual court cases.
Return-to-work checklist
www.psc.ca/irps_gtsws/manuals/pdffiles/rtw_audit_document.pdf
This PDF document on the WorkSafe Saskatchewan site is a good resource for getting a return-to-work (RTW) and disability management program started. It’s a questionnaire, developed by the National Institute of Disability Management and Research, that offers a checklist employers can fill out when implementing a program. The first part of the questionnaire is an extensive list of yes or no questions including, “Does your RTW policy statement clearly state the scope, principles and intent of your RTW program?” The second part involves return-to-work program implementation and requires written answers to questions such as, “How have you made everyone in the organization/company aware of your RTW policy statement?”
Mental health issues
www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca/june_2004/monitor_june2004.pdf
Although most disability management sites look at ways to help employees with physical disabilities, this one focuses on how to deal with employees experiencing mental health issues. This PDF document entitled The Roundtable Roadmap to Mental Disability Management, developed and released by the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, takes an in-depth look at issues associated with returning to work for employees who have dealt with mental illness. The “roadmap” was designed to help smooth the way back to employment for both employees and employers and contains practical suggestions to facilitate an effective mental disability management program.
A site to emulate
www.sfu.ca/human-resources/rtw/rtw-home.htm
B.C.’s Simon Fraser University posts information on its site about its Disability Management/Return to Work Office, which assists employees, supervisors and administrators with the management of wellness, sick leave, disability and return to work. The site offers a good example for organizations that may be planning to post similar information on external or internal websites. There are links to a “Summary of policies and procedures,” “Definitions” and a list of contacts in HR. The “Return to work” link has FAQs.
Ann Macaulay is a freelance editor and regular contributor to Canadian HR Reporter. Her Web Sight column appears regularly in the CloseUp section.
