Doubts about recovery notification, now what?

Suppose: You have an employee on long-term leave who, two weeks before her vacation, was told by the company doctor that she no longer has any restrictions and can be reported restored to the stipulated work. In practice, however, this employee has not yet shown that she is performing all the tasks associated with her job and the supervisor still has doubts about whether the employee can sustain the work permanently. However, the employee claims that she wants to be reported recovered as of the date of the company doctor's opinion. What should happen then?

Advice by the Occupational Assessor

The first step is to notify the absenteeism case manager or Occupational Health and Safety Advisor. The latter then approaches Occupational Assessor for advice. The absenteeism case manager or advisor ensures that all the steps of the Gatekeeper's Act are taken on time and takes care of the contact between employee, company doctor and employer. It is then up to the Occupational Assessor to see if a sustainability test is necessary.

Endurance test when in doubt about recovery notification

In the example, the employee, through the case manager, asks Occupational Assessor whether there is a legal basis for the durability test to test full recovery in practice. First of all: the durability test is not in the law, but is based on the principles of labor law (Article 7:611 of the Civil Code): 'The employer and the employee are obliged to conduct themselves as a good employer and a good employee'. Endurance tests may only be applied if there is doubt as to whether employee is permanently capable of performing his stipulated work. Is the employee again doing all the tasks belonging to the job at the same pace and with the same quality? The role of the supervisor is essential here: he or she can determine whether there are indeed still limitations in performing the stipulated work.

Communication between employee and supervisor

This test requires good communication with supervisor and employee. The employability case manager is the person who must and can properly supervise this process. It is important to determine together whether or not the employee has fully recovered. It is reasonable to start the sustainability test with a period of one month to six weeks with weekly evaluations. Here the role of the supervisor in coordination with the case manager is very important. Has the employee actually returned to his old level of functioning? Is employee employable on all tasks and is there also nothing wrong with the quality and quantity of work? If so, a full recovered report will take place.

Deployment of DIO (preventive)

If the employee is reported recovered and there is still doubt about his (sustainable) employability, a Sustainable Employability Examination can be initiated via Puls . In this way both employer and employee will gain insight into the signals of possible imbalance, the cause of this and how the balance can be restored.

Want to know more about recovery reports and employability?

Would you like to have your employee's employability tested by Puls? Then we would be happy to help you! Consult your case manager or advisor, or contact us at 088 032 2460 or servicedesk@pulsinzetbaarheid.nl.