What to do when my employee's work ability has weakened?

Occupational health care will append a record of the occupational health negotiation to the medical statement B to be sent. The occupational health negotiation record must include the employer’s opinion and information on the employee’s possibilities for remaining at work at their own workplace. The role of the occupational health negotiation is important for that reason as well.

We request that the employer’s description be appended to years-of-service pension applications and, at our discretion, when the description is necessary in order to make a decision on the application. Please return the filled in form within two weeks.

• At this stage it is a good idea to hold an occupational health negotiation, in which the opportunity to return to work is discussed. If an employee has been given a positive vocational rehabilitation decision in connection with a disability pension or cash rehabilitation benefit decision, he or she can look into how to continue at work through vocational rehabilitation. If the employee has received a negative vocational rehabilitation decision, the employee can contact Kela to look into rehabilitation options.
• If your company cannot offer opportunities for returning to work, you can write a certificate stating that you cannot offer work suited to the employee’s state of health. The employee can then register as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE Office in order to find out their right to unemployment cover.

We first require a vocational rehabilitation application from your employee, if we have not received one yet. The application must include a medical statement B. Only then can we issue a decision. If the decision on the right to vocational rehabilitation has been given, we require a rehabilitation plan and occupational health negotiation record, and any medical statements that describe the details of the work trial.

If a decision concerning vocational rehabilitation has not yet been issued, the employee must first apply for vocational rehabilitation with a rehabilitation application and medical statement B. An occupational health negotiation record, if one exists, is worth attaching to the application. We require the work trial information either as an application, if one has not yet been submitted, or as a rehabilitation plan application, if a positive decision has already been given for vocational rehabilitation. The employee can fill in the application and plan on Varma’s online service. A recent medical statement B and any occupational health negotiation record, which are related to the planning of the work trial, can be attached.

The employer should also know the following: Is the work trial unpaid or paid? Who is the workplace contact person for the work trial? Who at the workplace should be sent the work trial agreement? Has monitoring during the work trial been agreed on as a collaboration between occupational health care, the employee and the employer? At the latest at the start of the final month of the work trial, it is worth charting the situation and planning for the time after the work trial: Can the employee continue at the job without vocational rehabilitation measures or should the work trial be continued?

Yes, but the employee must remember to let Kela know that the work trial has begun so that they can terminate the sickness allowance and avoid any overlapping payments.

The number of hours can be tailored during the work trial and be continued with fewer hours. We can support a work trial for a maximum of 6 months, so it is possible to increase the working hours during that time. The rehabilitation allowance is the same amount throughout the work trial, irrespective of the number of working hours per week. In a paid work trial the salary is also the same, regardless of the number of hours.

We do not take a stand on employment issues. The employer should contact the employee and discuss the situation. Often the situation can be resolved when the employee realises that their career is heading in a new direction.

You can agree on working hours depending on your needs. It is important that the employee’s salary for part-time work does not exceed the monthly earnings limit stated in the employee’s preliminary decision. Regarding the earnings limit, it must be taken into account in the part-time work’s salary that holiday pay and several other bonuses paid during the year are also considered earnings. However, per-kilometre allowances and daily commuting allowances are not considered salary-type compensation. The pension recipient is obligated to make sure that their permitted earnings limit is not exceeded.

Returning to work should be discussed at an early stage with the employee, even if the employee’s state of health does not allow it yet. When the workplace maintains regular contact with the employee it keeps the employee thinking about working life and in touch with the work community.

An occupational health negotiation should be arranged before the cash rehabilitation benefit period ends and to discuss the timing of and plan for returning to work. Occupational health care monitors the employee’s state of health during the cash rehabilitation benefit period and times the employee’s return to working life correctly. This supports recovery and helps maintain work ability. The supervisor monitors the performance of the returning employee, and the occupational health physician monitors their health.

Partial disability pension is a good way to reduce the workload at the end of a career. An employee can apply for partial disability pension if their disability is estimated to consecutively last for more than a year and their work ability is sufficient for part-time work. For an employee who has turned 60, the vocational nature of the disability is given weight, meaning that their work ability is assessed against their current profession.

A successful return to work can be supported by adjusting the job description to suit the employee’s health; for example, some tasks can be eliminated. With musculoskeletal diseases, occupational physical therapy and ergonomic solutions can be used. During the partial cash rehabilitation benefit period, regular monitoring and support are incredibly important: the occupational health negotiation can be used to monitor the employee’s health and work performance. The occupational health negotiation is also used by the employee, supervisor and occupational health physician to decide on switching to full-time work and the related measures.