In the event of a Occupational health assessment the Occupational Assessor from Puls to all the possibilities for an employee to be able to reintegrate into work in a sustainable way. First of all, with adjustments in one's own work, because that is generally the desired starting point for both employer and employee. Investigating the possible adjustments weighs extra heavily when an employee is unable to fully return to their own work. What can you expect?

Return to one's own work as a starting point

Within the Wet verbetering Poortwachter, return to one's own work is paramount. An employer is expected to investigate all possibilities to (partially) return to that own work. According to the law, this must involve work that can reasonably be assigned to an employee.

There are several ways to modify one's own work:

• Offering flexible working hours;
• The ability to schedule your own working hours;
• No longer working full-time, but working part-time;
• Omit certain tasks or add tasks to the job;
• Ability to work from home;
• An optimally equipped workplace.

If the work is permanently adaptable then this is in the interest of both the employee and the employer. After all, the employee's own work best suits his or her knowledge and skills. And by adapting, absenteeism can be shortened. This can result in significant cost savings. In addition, the employee can make the greatest contribution to the organization in their own work. A sustainable work adjustment will also lead to the highest possible wage retention. Last but not least, it prevents the risk of entering the WIA. The latter always has major financial consequences; both for the employee, but also for the employer. This is often underestimated.

Case study

The following practical example shows what adapting one's own work can look like:

An employee is limited in walking and standing. She can no longer climb stairs and her hand function has also decreased. The employee works as an administrative assistant. However, she is no longer able to get to her office on the second floor. There is no elevator. She is also no longer able to work fully with keyboard and mouse. The work is carried out on the advice of the Occupational Assessor adapted. A room will be set up on the ground floor. The toilet is also a short distance away and easy to reach. She is allowed to park her car next to the entrance of the building. At her workplace, she will be given an adapted office chair, an ergonomic mouse and keyboard, and a program will also be installed that allows her to operate the computer with speech. In addition, she will have the opportunity to work partly from home with aids. At the moment, the employee is fully employed again. This is done through the use of some adjustments and the use of tools.

Resources and grant application

When making adjustments and/or using assistive devices, costs can vary widely. For minor adjustments as mentioned above, the costs are reasonable to ask an employer to pay. It can also happen that an adjustment or assistive device involves high costs. When this is the case, the employer can apply for a subsidy from the UWV. There are also aids that can be included in the subsidy application. This could be a car adaptation, or special reading glasses. In that case, the employee can apply for a subsidy for these at the UWV.

Learn more

Do you have any questions? Or would you like to know more about the possibilities to sustainably adapt your employee's work? The Occupational Assessor from Puls will be happy to advise you. You can contact us by phone, e-mail or via our contact form.