Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 18, 2016 14 FEATURES DISABILITY MANAGEMENT Making a difference with disabilities A look at 3 key steps crucial to successful disability management By Dan Licoppe and Samia Jarjoura M ost human resources professionals are fairly familiar with the con- cept of disability management, probably because of increasing disability and absence-related costs. In 2013, the Conference Board of Canada estimated ab- senteeism expenditures in the Canadian economy were $16.6 billion annually, and rising, and of course there are indirect costs related to absence and disability. Trying to measure costs and implement best practices can be a complicated process, involv- ing numerous steps and several stakeholders. e good news is there are three key steps that will improve results, along with the experiences of employees and managers involved in the disabil- ity management process: • Expand your understanding of disability. • Assist employees in a safe return to work, as opposed to trying to prove whether they're disabled. • Create a culture where workers feel they're able to return to work. Disability not a medical concept is can be a difficult concept to grasp. When this information is shared with HR professionals dur- ing presentations, they typically respond with incredulous looks and challenging questions. is is completely understandable as, on the surface, this statement seems incongruent. To understand this, we need to differentiate between impairment and disability. Impairment is a loss of a body part, function or an alternation of health status, which is assessed by medical means, usually through a physician. In addition, physicians diagnose and treat medical condi- tions or illnesses. Disability is essentially an al- teration in an individual's ability to meet personal, social or occu- pational demands due to impair- ment. Disability is a complicated psycho-social problem that ex- tends far beyond the illness or impairment. Many factors contribute to this complexity including an indi- vidual's self-efficacy, his values or beliefs, his relationship with the employer, economic factors, the availability of modified work, as well as an employer's policies and practices, cultures and values. Viewing disability from this perspective is particularly critical to ensure a disability management program avoids an over-reliance on a "medical case management" model. In this model, stakehold- ers (employers, workers' com- pensation boards and disability insurers) rely on physicians to de- termine whether an employee is disabled or not. us begins an endless loop of having to write physicians for up- dates and "clearance" as to when an employee will be able to return to work in some capacity. It can be frustrating and typically correlates to longer durations of disability. Research has shown physi- cians' perspectives on disability echo this frustration. And the Ca- nadian Medical Association has said it believes it is the employer's responsibility to supervise an em- ployee who is away from work. e association also objects to being asked to police absenteeism and act as truant officers. Expanding the understanding of disability also means seeking greater insight into absence man- agement. Most employers only have a general sense of how they are doing with respect to absence trends and costs. Tracking this type of information and taking stock of where they are at takes some effort, but is well worth it. Ideally, an employer wants to adopt an integrated approach to this across all absence types (oc- cupational and non-occupation- al), pre- and post-absence. Often, organizations may track informa- tion and have processes for work- ers compensation absence, but not for non-occupational absence. Assistance versus resistance Organizations need to regularly assess their climate to determine whether they support return to work and accommodation. An as- sistance model moves away from the traditional medical model, where the employee and employer devote most of their time to prov- ing or refuting disability, which creates a resistance to a return to work. In other words, when an em- ployee is absent from work, the first question an organization should ask is: "How can we help her return to work as quickly and safely as possible?" versus "Is she disabled?" Assistance also means organi- zations need to ensure employees, direct supervisors or managers, case managers and human re- sources collaborate and commu- nicate on developing safe, early re- turn to work plans. Several studies have found supervisory support and behaviour is an important predictor of return to work of in- dividuals with any type of disor- der. Supervisors and leaders are essential to creating a supportive workplace culture facilitating re- turn to work and accommodation, particularly for employees with mental health disabilities. It's normal for leaders to feel anxious at the prospect of talk- ing to an employee about this. But what if they receive vague information from a physician, such as: "Employee should avoid heavy lifting?" ey could request further information from the phy- sician but this may delay the re- turn to work process. e better approach would be to talk to the employee about what he feels his capabilities are, and to the direct supervisor about what the ac- tual job duties are. ey'll likely be able to obtain more detailed information. Most information on func- tional abilities from physicians is based on an employee's self- report. Physicians typically do not have a patient do any kind of functional capacity testing during a 15-minute appointment. ey typically ask about their activities of daily living, their perception of their functional abilities, and then document and report that infor- mation. Plus, a physician is acting as the patient's advocate. Why not at least start a discussion with the employee about what she feels she can and cannot do? is approach is also more ef- fective in identifying and strat- egizing in situations where there are factors contributing to the employee's absence that may not be entirely related to impairment or illness. And it implies that as an organization, there is a level of acceptance pertaining to the em- ployee's absence. is is not to be confused with a belief or acceptance of the rea- sons contributing to the absence but as recognition the employee is in fact away from work, regard- less of the reason. is establishes a less adversarial approach where employers can better identify and take action in situations where an employee's absence is complicated or due to personal or family con- flicts, job performance issues, skill deficits or workplace conflicts. Culture of accommodation Does your workplace culture support return to work and ac- commodation for employees with physical and mental health disabilities? If you went off work due to a disability, would you feel supported and optimistic about your organization's ability to ac- commodate you in a modified return to work? ese blunt ques- tions must be asked because they hold the potential to significantly impact the health, well-being and productivity of workers. Often, if an employee doesn't feel his pres- ence is valued and his employer is willing to facilitate his return to work, he may be less motivated to return. is also illustrates why orga- nizations need to have a clearly defined, early return to work pro- gram for employees across all ab- sence types. ey shouldn't wait until someone is away from work to explore potential accommoda- tions. ey should be proactive. It's about taking a team ap- proach involving multiple stake- holders (including direct super- visors, unions and occupational health and safety) to develop policies and procedures to accom- modate employees in modified return to work programs. Review what you are doing for workers' compensation claims and inte- grate best practices. Spend some time soliciting feedback from em- ployees about factors they identify as obstacles to modified return to work. Be open to reconsidering the status quo. Employers might need to re- view the functional demands for some jobs to identify potential, modified return to work op- portunities. Does the health and wellness program support a com- mitment to helping employees stay at work? Maybe attendance policies should be reviewed. Ideally, policies and procedures should: support injury and dis- ability prevention; outline stay-at- work practices for those needing accommodation before absence; identify potential, modified du- ties throughout the organization; and define roles and responsibili- ties in transitional return to work programs. An effective disability manage- ment program requires organi- zational commitment, collabora- tion and the active participation of all stakeholders involved in the process and from senior manage- ment. e results will be an im- proved experience for all involved and significant costs savings from lower absence durations. Dan Licoppe is a Winnipeg-based se- nior disability consultant and Samia Jarjoura is the Montreal-based na- tional lead consultant for disability management at Aon Hewitt. For more information, visit www.aon.ca. Supervisors and leaders are essential to creating a supportive culture.

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