Absence and Return to Work

The Absence and Return to Work Services will enable you to reduce lost time so that you can pay people to work rather than to stay at home sick.

At an organisational level Webster Lawlor carry out absence management and return to work audits. These audits review organisational capacity to manage both short and long term absence and the return to work process.

Recommendations from the audit can then be translated into a time limited plan that will include actions such as developing/ adapting policies and procedures and assigning key roles of responsibility, accountability and authority.

Webster Lawlor also provide direct training to build people’s capacity to act in key roles, e.g. a training workshop in how to conduct a best practice return to work interview.

Organisations can also refer individual absent employees to Webster Lawlor for a return to work assessment and/or case management service.

Case Management is a process that aims to return an ill/ injured absent worker to work in a safe, timely and efficient manner. It involves working with the ill/ injured employee, their employer, medical team and other parties as appropriate to develop a medically approved return to work plan that is planned, co-ordinated and monitored.

There is a plethora of evidence that negatively correlates length of absence with return to work. In essence the longer a person is absent from work the less chance they have of successfully returning. There is also a strong positive correlation between early intervention and successful return to work and early intervention has been acknowledged as the most important factor in successful rehabilitation. Evidence based research shows that case managed early intervention results in decreased lost time and successful return to work.

Private Sector companies who wish to adopt a best practice approach to return to work and job retention for ill/ injured workers can apply for the Employee Job Retention Grant. The purpose of this grant is to help employers to retain employees who acquire an illness, condition or impairment that impacts upon their ability to carry out their job. The Employee Retention Grant provides up to a maximum of €15,000 to enable the employer to hire experts who will assess the capacity of the worker, develop a retention plan and help the company to implement the retention plan which may include re-training for a new position within the company. Contact Webster Lawlor for more information on this Grant and others that may be of use to you and/ or your organization.