One of your employees drops out, which is very unpleasant for both of them. But it is even more annoying when an employee is absent for a longer period of time. Often there is little clarity for both the employee and the employer about what can and cannot be done regarding reintegration. Then Occupational Assessor comes around the corner. He will investigate and determine whether there is suitable work with the own employer. How does that work?

What is appropriate work?

Assessing whether work is suitable can be approached from different frames of reference and has different assessment criteria, but suitable work will always have to pass the test of "reasonableness and fairness." The boundaries of suitable work are not always clear.

Thus, suitable labor does not have the same meaning and conditions in every situation. Think of the differences of suitable employment in an unemployment situation, in disability through private insurers, the a sickness law situation and from the obligations under the Gatekeeper Act. So what is suitable employment for one situation does not automatically mean that it also applies to another situation.

In my further piece, I will limit myself to the situation under the Gatekeeper Act.

The definition of suitable employment in the context of reintegration in case of incapacity for work can be found in Article 7:658a paragraph 4 of the Civil Code (BW). This states that: 'all work that is calculated for the employee's strengths and abilities, unless acceptance cannot be required of him for physical, mental or social reasons.' Here, in addition to the employee's medical limitations, the employee's employment history, education, job level, work environment, personal characteristics and distance from the work must be taken into account, among other things.

When to offer suitable work?

Suitable work in this context must be offered or accepted by the employer to the employee if the employee cannot return to his or her own work due to disability. According to the Civil Code, after 26 weeks (six months), an employee must accept work appropriate to his or her strengths and abilities.

How does the Occupational Assessor determine if my work is appropriate?

The Occupational Assessor obtained a so-called Functional Capabilities List (FML) through the (company) doctor. On this, the doctor indicated what should be taken into account in the search for a suitable position with regard to the medical limitations for work. The company doctor determines the medical limitations (taxability of the employee) under the following six headings:

• Personal functioning;
• Social functioning;
• Adjustments to physical environment requirements;
• Dynamic actions;
• Static postures;
• Working Hours.

The Occupational Assessor will use this information about the employee's workload capacity to look at reintegration options with their own employer.

We look at the positions at the employee's own employer and which ones are accessible to the employee in terms of education and training. This is done initially at the employee's own job level and one job level below. Of these jobs, the activities, per task, and the load of these activities by the Occupational Assessor are mapped (job load). This is done using the same rubrics that the company doctor uses to indicate limitations.

Then the Occupational Assessor weighs "the employee's load capacity versus the load of different jobs and/or tasks."

This analysis not only weighs a person's physical, mental and psychosocial condition, but also considers immediate environmental factors such as work organization, family, colleagues, personal finances and/or education.

If this analysis shows no exceedance of the employee's workload, the position can be considered appropriate. This may also be possible with an adjustment and/or provision.

Calls

The Occupational Assessor obtains the information about job strain through discussions with the employer, the employee, possibly other co-workers and a workplace visit to get a clear and unambiguous picture of the job strain and the various tasks in the job.

These findings and the conclusions are presented in a clear, transparent and understandable report that clearly shows the weighting between the employee's load capacity and the job load.

This report is submitted in draft form to interested parties and after any additions are made final so that all parties have a unified view of whether or not there are any suitable positions and, if so, which positions are suitable with one's employer.

Learn more

The employment experts at Puls can not only determine the suitability of a job, but can also advise you on recovery and prevention with regard to the load of a job. If necessary, with advice regarding provisions and/or adjustments so that someone can continue to perform their own and/or suitable job on a permanent basis. Would you like to know what else Puls can do for your organization? Visit our website, take a look at our range of services and contact us without any obligations.