Work Organization and Return to Work

Abstract

Return to work policies and practices are, first and foremost, the products of the historical, economic, and political context within which they were formed. This chapter thus starts with a description of these “macrosystem” themes, providing a depiction of key historical events as well as the economic and political contexts that are relevant to return to work. The second part of this chapter discusses the mesosystem influences – consisting of the workplace, insurance, and healthcare system relationships – to explain how the interactions among stakeholders within the workplace and between the workplace and other key players impact return to work. The third part focuses on the role of the worker’s microsystem – the coworker and supervisor support for the individual worker. This chapter concludes by discussing the interplay between societal, workplace, and work unit factors, noting what can be done at each level to enhance successful return to work.