Determinants of work accommodation efforts for long-term sick workers

What was examined in the paper?

Long-term sickness and disability of workers lead to large public expenditures. In this paper, researchers study the extent to which experience-rated benefit premiums, i.e., sick leave and disability risk-based premiums, lead to accommodation efforts by employers to accommodate long-term sick workers (e.g. through adjustments to working hours, the work environment or job tasks). In particular, the study concerns long-term sick workers with a temporary contract.

What are the take-aways from the research?

• Increasing employers’ responsibility through experience-rated benefit premiums does not lead to greater work accommodation efforts with respect to long-term sick and disabled workers on temporary contracts. Thus, other measures must be taken for these vulnerable groups.
• Opting for self-arranging seems to lead to employers with a high risk of absenteeism remaining publicly insured especially, who will therefore experience greater premium pressure to keep the system viable.
• In particular, younger, highly educated workers seem to benefit from greater work accommodation efforts.