Reaction to Disability through Organization Policy: Early Return to Work Policy

Abstract

Expenditures for disability benefits are increasing every year. Currently, disability costs exceed the amount that employers spent on general health care seven years ago. Current literature indicates that workers who become disabled will return to work sooner and more often to their previous job if they are encouraged to do so (Lundell, 1985; Tate, Habeck & Galvin, 1986). In response, a number of private sector employers have initiated a new personnel policy which provides such encouragement; it is called Early Return to Work policy. This policy is one in a continuum of policies and practices which address and promote steady employment and equal employment opportunity in the work place. Early return to work policies encourage and enable injured/disabled employees to return to duty under medical supervision prior to being fully recuperated. During the recovery period, the injured/disabled employees are assigned to redesigned jobs which can be performed within their physical/medical restrictions. Adoption of this policy appears to conform to existing federal law. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires employers to take affirmative action in the hiring of the handicapped and states that those corporations and organizations receiving federal financial assistance must not discriminate against the handicapped in any of their policies and practices. The relevance of this Act to early return to work policies was largely a matter of application and interpretation. However, the recently passed Americans with Disabilities Act (July 1990) has a major provision that requires companies to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees (Traver, 1990). This recent Act appears to have direct application to early return to work policies, though court rulings and federal guidelines may be required to specify the precise relationship. Hence, even though there have been national policies encouraging early return to work and current legislation addressing this issue, the early return to work concept is reported to be spreading slowly and achieving only partial acceptance. This was evidenced by a national study in 1986 which indicated that only 8% of all American corporations had in-house early return to work programs for the disabled (Schwartz, 1986). The purpose of this research was to discover the patterns of acceptance and to provide explanations for the differential acceptance which the concept of an early return to work policy is encountering in the private sector. The investigation began with the identification of three perspectives from which corporate behavior can be examined: (1) corporate culture, (2) corporate structure and (3) beliefs held by key corporate actors. Each perspective was comprised of several variables, conceptually distinct and individually measured. Corporate Culture Corporate culture, a commonly used sensitizing concept, embodies a set of beliefs and values collectively held and socialized consciously or unconsciously by a corporation. Specific elements of corporate culture to be examined are: (a) the goals of the corporation, including to value the employee and corporate social responsibility, (b) the flexibility of the corporation, and (c) personnel principles. Goals occupy a central position in corporate culture. Goals focus the attention and structure priorities of the corporation by defining which specific corporate behaviors are organizationally relevant. The technological processes or practices required to achieve specific goals impose restrictions on personnel activity and resource allocation and may affect the propensity to accept early return to work policy. To value the employee: The employee may be viewed as a valuable human resource, or as an interchangeable instrument. If the employee as an individual is not valued as a human resource, there may be considerable resistance for the corporation to pursue an early return to work policy (Hester, Decelles & Planek, 1988). …