Work adaption and rehabilitation

Obligations

The responsible manager, with support from HR in the department or equivalent, is obliged to

• develop a plan for return to work within 30 days when an employee/doctoral student is expected to be absent completely or partially from work/studies for at least 60 days.
• submit an updated plan to the Social Insurance Office if requested

A plan for return to work or rehabilitation plan can also be established when an employee has been sick on six or more occasions during the past 12 months or if an employee has had repeated short-term sick leave for unclear reasons.

Early actions in the rehabilitation process

The responsible manager, with support from HR, should initiate rehabilitation efforts as early as possible. This means making contact early and, as soon as the employee’s health condition allows, scheduling a rehabilitation meeting.

Rehabilitation work involves adapting the work and implementing rehabilitation efforts and/or offering other temporary tasks if possible. Adaptation of work can relate to the workplace, work environment, and work content, such as limiting tasks and/or adjusting working hours. The employer should appoint a person in the workplace who is responsible for monitoring the employee’s return to work.

Steps in the employer’s rehabilitation work

1. Return to Work Plan

   It is important for the employer and the employee to develop a plan to facilitate the employee’s return to work. This involves setting realistic goals and timelines for rehabilitation and how the job tasks can be adapted during this period.

2. Job Accommodation and Rehabilitation Efforts

   The employer should identify and implement relevant rehabilitation efforts to facilitate the employee’s return to work. This may include offering workplace accommodations or technical aids that facilitate the performance of job tasks. It may also involve offering physiotherapy or ergonomic advice to reduce the risk of future injuries.

3. Modified Job Tasks as Needed

   If the employee’s health condition requires it, the employer may need to consider modifying the job tasks to adapt them to the employee’s abilities and work limitations. This may involve reducing the workload, offering alternative job tasks, or adjusting the work hours to allow the employee to recover.

By following these steps, the employer can help the employee return to work in a safe and sustainable manner and promote their health and well-being.

Document and follow-up

It is important that the applicable procedures and responsibilities are clearly defined during the process. The employer should schedule regular rehabilitation meetings using the return-to-work plan as a basis for monitoring progress.

Rehabilitation meetings often need to be more frequent at the beginning of the return-to-work process and when the employee gradually increases their working hours. If the employee, due to their health condition, cannot attend specific meetings, alternative methods of communication can be used for updates and check-ins.

The entire rehabilitation process should be documented to demonstrate that the employer has fulfilled their rehabilitation responsibility. For example:

• All rehabilitation meetings and communication via email and telephone relevant to the rehabilitation process
• All work adjustments and rehabilitation efforts
• The investigation of reassignment and its outcome

If the employee is unable to return to regular work

Investigate the possibility of reassignment within the department or equivalent. If it becomes clear that there is no possibility for reassignment within the own institution, the HR Specialists in Labour Law at the HR Office can be contacted to explore the possibilities for reassignment throughout KI.

Right to try another job during the sick period

An employee has the right to take leave from their employment to try another job if the employee, due to illness, has had reduced work capacity for a period of at least 90 days and if the employee enters into an employment agreement with another employer between day 91 and day 180 of the sick period. The employee has the right to take leave to try another job for a maximum of twelve months, including the sick period mentioned above.

If return to work at KI is not possible

The Swedish Public Employment Service can be contacted as soon as it becomes clear that all possibilities for rehabilitation and return to work at KI have been exhausted. If an employee becomes unemployed, they should register with the Swedish Public Employment Service as a job seeker on the first day of unemployment to be able to apply for compensation from the unemployment insurance fund. Read more on the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish) and this brief introduction to the social insurance system.

Fulfilled rehabilitation responsibility

For KI as an employer to be considered to have fulfilled its rehabilitation responsibility, the employer should have

• Investigated the need for and implemented work adjustments and rehabilitation measures
• Conducted a job reassignment investigation and considered reasonable proposals

The employer's rehabilitation responsibility can also be considered fulfilled if

• there are no job reassignment opportunities throughout KI's operations
• the employee does not participate at all in their rehabilitation
• the employee declines an offer of job reassignment
• the employee's work capacity is significantly and permanently impaired to the extent that the employee cannot perform any meaningful work for the employer

Manager's responsibility

According to the current delegation order, the immediate manager is responsible for the rehabilitation of an employee or doctoral student on sick leave until the employee can return to their regular work, to another position at KI, or until all possibilities for rehabilitation have been exhausted.

Employee's responsibility

The employee has an obligation to actively participate in their own rehabilitation based on their health condition. This includes providing sufficient information about their health condition so that appropriate planning can be made and actively participating in the rehabilitation efforts agreed upon with the employer. The employee can also suggest different rehabilitation measures that can facilitate their return to work.

Medical certificate

The employee is required to provide up-to-date medical certificates to the employer. If the employee is unable to submit a medical certificate directly due to their health condition, the employer should be informed that the sick leave has been extended.