Rehabilitation steps for the employer

You can support your employee’s coping at work or return to work after sick leave, for example, in a number of ways. Intervene early on in an employee’s work ability challenges – it benefits both you and your employee. Take a look at the 10 rehabilitation steps. Proceed one step at a time together with your employee and occupational health care service. Take a look at the 10 rehabilitation steps. Proceed one step at a time together with your employee and occupational health care service.

  1. 1. An employee faces work ability challenges

    Bring your employee’s work ability up with the employee and the occupational health care service early on. Various solutions can be found to help your employee cope at work or return to work. It is important that you draw on the solutions supporting work ability and returning to work as early on as possible. 

  2. 2. Find out about the various possibilities – there are many options

    You can support your employee in coping at work by, for example, shortening his or her working hours or adapting his or her tasks. Kela also organises rehabilitation courses that aim to maintain and restore physical and mental work ability and functional ability and to enable individuals to continue in working life. An employee’s return to work after sick leave can be supported by Kela’s partial sickness allowance or a work trial under the Occupational Health Care Act. Kela can also be applied to for support for the acquisition of various tools that assist working. Read more about the opportunities offered by Kela (kela.fi).

  3. 3. Ilmarinen’s vocational rehabilitation

    If your employee’s work ability has weakened to the extent that other means for returning to work are not enough, Ilmarinen’s vocational rehabilitation may be an option. We can support your employee’s return to work in a job that suits his or her health. Read more about vocational rehabilitation.

  4. 4. Applying for vocational rehabilitation

    Once you have discussed the various options with the employee and the occupational health care service and vocational rehabilitation has been assessed as a suitable option considering the employee’s situation, the occupational health care physician issues a Medical Statement B for the employee for vocational rehabilitation. Vocational rehabilitation can be applied for in Ilmarinen’s online service, and the Medical Statement B is attached to the application. Your employee can also attach to the application a rehabilitation plan including, for example, plans on a work trial. Read more about applying for vocational rehabilitation.

  5. 5. Decision on the rehabilitation application

    When processing the rehabilitation application submitted by your employee, we take into account his or her individual situation. Our decision is based on our specialists’ assessment of the necessity, applicability and usefulness of vocational rehabilitation for the applicant.

  6. 6. The employee receives the decision from Ilmarinen

    If your employee receives a positive preliminary decision from us, he or she is entitled to vocational rehabilitation. The preliminary decision is valid for approximately 10 months. During that time, your employee must make a rehabilitation plan and send it to us. The rehabilitation plan can be, for example, a plan on a work trial involving the employee’s own job. Read more about positive preliminary vocational rehabilitation decisions.

  7. 7. If your employee receives a negative decision from us

    If the decision your employee has received from us is negative, we have assessed that he or she is not threatened by disability or that Ilmarinen’s vocational rehabilitation is not appropriate in his or her current situation. Continue to discuss with your employee about how he or she can continue working or return to his or her job using other means. Read more about negative vocational rehabilitation decisions.

  8. 8. Rehabilitation plan

    A rehabilitation plan is a plan on how the employee can continue in his or her current job or on a new career path in tasks that are suited to his or her health. If the employee is unable to continue in his or her current job through, for example, a work trial, we will help him or her make a rehabilitation plan. Read more about the rehabilitation plan.

  9. 9. Rehabilitation allowance during rehabilitation

    We will pay your employee a rehabilitation allowance for the period of his or her vocational rehabilitation. We will start paying the rehabilitation allowance when we have approved the rehabilitation plan and the vocational rehabilitation starts, i.e. the employee starts a work trial or studies, for example. If the work trial is paid, the rehabilitation allowance will be paid to you as the employer. Your employee can estimate the amount of his or her rehabilitation allowance in Ilmarinen’s online service. The estimate can also be found in the preliminary rehabilitation decision the employee has received. Read more about the rehabilitation allowance.

  10. 10. Returning to working life

    The objective of vocational rehabilitation is always to enable returning to work and continuing in working life. In the best-case scenario, the employee continues working at his or her old workplace after a work trial, for example. If no tasks suited to the employee’s state of health can be found at your workplace, the employee may find a new job somewhere else after a work trial. If the employee learns a new profession with the support of vocational rehabilitation and fails to find employment right after graduating, the TE services, for example, will assist him or her in applying for a job and finding employment.