Employers' perspectives on the provision of suitable duties in occupational rehabilitation

The workplace based approach to occupational rehabilitation depends on the availability of, and employer willingness to provide suitable duties to workers with injuries who are either temporarily or permanently unable to perform their pre-injury work duties. Given the importance of suitable duties to the outcome of occupational rehabilitation, it is surprising that there has been no research that examines the feasibility of providing suitable duties from an employer perspective. Accordingly, this paper presents the results of a representative statewide survey of employers in New South Wales, Australia. Findings indicate that most employers experienced difficulty in providing suitable duties to their workers with injuries, and that small employers (< 20 employees) experienced more difficulty than large employers. Workers' compensation bodies need to develop strategies to assist employers in this central task of occupational rehabilitation.