Help for the employer
Plan for return to work
Rehabilitation is a process designed to help the employee return to work. A process that you, as an employer, have a legal obligation to support, regardless of whether the illness or injury causing your employee’s sick leave is work-related or not.
When your employee has been absent from work due to illness for 30 days and is expected to be absent for more than 60 days you as an employer by law have a rehabilitation responsibility (Chapter 30, Section 6 of the Social Security Insurance Code/30 kap. 6 § socialförsäkringsbalken). This responsibility includes taking the measures needed and making the workplace adjustments required in order to ensure that your employees transition back to work is as smooth as possible. The rehabilitation responsibility also includes drawing up a written plan for your employee’s return to work.
By documenting the rehabilitation process, you, together with the employee, can help shorten the duration of sick leave, increase the chances of the employee returning to work full-time, and reduce the risk of a relapse. It is your responsibility as an employer to ensure that the plan is followed and adjusted as needed.
What should the plan include?
- Contact information
- Description of work duties
- An assessment of the employee's work capacity
- Suggestions for measures that can facilitate the return to work
- A timeline and information on who is responsible for what in the process
- Follow-ups to determine if the proposed adjustments/measures have been effective
Who should be involved?
The employer should, as much as possible, develop the rehabilitation plan together with the employee. It may also be relevant to involve other stakeholders in the process, such as safety representatives, HR, or union representatives.
To assist you as an employer, we have created a template for a return-to-work plan that you can easily download and fill out (PDF). If the Social Insurance Agency requests documentation regarding rehabilitation, this documentation can be used as a basis. You can choose to use either the English or Swedish version.
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