Job accommodation
Job accommodations, through modifications or adjustments to job processes, work environments and/or work schedules, are a key component of stay-at-work and return-to-work programs that are designed to ensure workers with work- or non-work-related injuries or illnesses (physical or mental) are able to sustain their employment. IWH conducts a wide range of research in this area, exploring barriers and facilitators to successful job accommodation, as well as disclosure of disability and other complex issues surrounding the accommodation of injured or ill workers.
Featured
At Work article
New initiative ‘skills up’ employers to hire, promote, support workers with disabilities
Efforts to date to improve the labour-force participation of persons with disabilities have focused on making them job-ready. A new initiative is now flipping that approach on its head, by focusing on 'skilling up' workplaces instead.
Published: August 23, 2022
At Work article
How government funding can best support the employment of persons with disabilities
What kind of government funding best encourages employers to hire and retain persons with disabilities? A research team at the Institute for Work & Health recently explored this question.
Published: May 4, 2022
Journal article
Journal article
How does job insecurity and workplace activity limitations relate to rheumatic disease symptom trajectories in young adulthood? A longitudinal study
Published: Arthritis Care & Research, January 2023
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Return to work in Ontario police services: Current experiences and practices
What challenges do members of police services, both sworn officers and civilian staff, face in their recovery and return to work after a work injury? In this presentation, IWH Scientist Dr. Dwayne Van Eerd shares what he heard from police members—those who were injured as well as those supporting return-to-work— in a qualitative study on return to work in Ontario police services. Using quotes and examples, he also offers suggestions on policies and practices that emerged from the data and that police services can implement to improve the return-to-work process.
Published: October 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Workplace disclosure decisions of older workers wanting to remain employed: a qualitative study of factors considered when contemplating revealing or concealing support needs
Published: Work, Aging and Retirement, September 2022
At Work article
New initiative ‘skills up’ employers to hire, promote, support workers with disabilities
Efforts to date to improve the labour-force participation of persons with disabilities have focused on making them job-ready. A new initiative is now flipping that approach on its head, by focusing on 'skilling up' workplaces instead.
Published: August 2022
Research Highlights
Getting the message right: strategies to improve return-to-work communication
Communication is central to disability management—especially in large and complex organizations where multiple parties are involved in the return-to-work process and inconsistent practices can add to communication challenges. Workplace stakeholders in large and complex organizations use key strategies to effectively communicate about RTW. They include communicating messages of support, correctly timing RTW communication, carefully wording messages, framing messages and tailoring messages for individual workers.
Published: July 2022
Journal article
Journal article
A sensibility assessment of the Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT): a tool to help workers with an episodic disability plan workplace support
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, July 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Pre-existing anxiety and depression disorders and return to work after musculoskeletal strain or sprain: a phased-based approach
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, June 2022
At Work article
How government funding can best support the employment of persons with disabilities
What kind of government funding best encourages employers to hire and retain persons with disabilities? A research team at the Institute for Work & Health recently explored this question.
Published: May 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Workplace wellness program interest and barriers among workers with work-related permanent impairments
Published: Workplace Health & Safety, April 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Return-to-work after work-related injury in the construction sector: a scoping review
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, February 2022