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
Seeking broad input on a pan-Canadian strategy to improve work choices for people with disabilities
Draft unveiled by cross-country coalition aims to spur voluntary action in four key areas
Published: January 13, 2019
At Work article
Sex/gender analysis: Men and women with arthritis have same needs at work, but not the same supports
Study of workers with arthritis finds the need for workplace supports goes unmet more often among women, and that's due to the type of jobs and workplaces women are in
Published: August 6, 2018
Tools and guides
Supporting return to work among employees with musculoskeletal or mental health conditions: an evidence-based practical resource
This resource synthesizes the research evidence on the practical solutions that workplaces can implement (in conjunction with workers' compensation, insurance and health-care authorities) to support the return to work of employees with musculoskeletal disorders or mental health conditions.
Published: May 2019
Journal article
Journal article
Concerns about claiming, postclaim support, and return to work planning: the workplace's impact on return to work
Published: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2019
Journal article
Journal article
The participation of people with disabilities in the workplace across the employment cycle: employer concerns and research evidence
Published: Journal of Business and Psychology, April 2019
Journal article
Journal article
Do health service use and return-to-work outcomes differ with GPs' injured-worker caseload?
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, March 2019
At Work article
Seeking broad input on a pan-Canadian strategy to improve work choices for people with disabilities
Public consultation is now under way on a draft strategy for building an inclusive workforce—one where people with and without disabilities have the same choices in their jobs and careers. Read about the draft strategy, unveiled last December at the Disability and Work in Canada 2018 conference.
Published: January 2019
IWH in the media
Supervisors play key role in return from injury, study finds
A recently released report urges employers to ensure supervisors express immediate support when a worker is injured or becomes ill and that they then remain positive during the recovery period to best ensure successful return-to-work (RTW) outcomes, writes Don Wall in Daily Commercial News.
Published: Daily Commercial News, August 2018
At Work article
Sex/gender analysis: Men and women with arthritis have same needs at work, but not the same supports
Study of workers with arthritis finds the need for workplace supports goes unmet more often among women, and that's due to the type of jobs and workplaces women are in.
Published: August 2018
Journal article
Journal article
The role of healthcare providers in return to work
Published: International Journal of Disability Management, August 2018
At Work article
Benefits outweigh costs for workplaces that accommodate people with mental illness
For employers, the economic benefits of hiring and accommodating workers with mental illnesses range from two to seven dollars for every dollar spent. That's according to a new study on the business case of accommodating mental illnesses.
Published: July 2018
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
The effects of gradual return to work on sustained return to work
Gradual return to work (GRTW) provides workers recovering from an injury with the opportunity to limit or modify work tasks and gradually build up work hours and work load with the goal of returning to full hours and duties. In this presentation, Dr. Esther Maas presents her research, which used detailed administrative workers’ compensation calendar data on return-to-work (RTW) in British Columbia to explore the effect of GRTW on sustained RTW. She also discusses opportunities for using population-based data to analyse the costs and effects of GRTW to improve RTW outcomes.
Published: June 2018