A new method for cooperation between employers and occupational health care related to supporting employability
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has published guidelines and forms with which employers and occupational health service providers can screen employees who need concrete support for returning to work.
The employer is obligated to organize for its employees statutory occupational health care services for promoting work ability. If necessary, health checks should also be carried out in situations where the employment relationship is ending and the employee may become unemployed.
However, this opportunity is seldom used. The situation may be better in organizations with more than 30 employees that are subject to transition security. In these cases, the obligation to arrange occupational health care continues for six months after the end of the work obligation, if the termination has been made for productivity and financial reasons and the employment relationship has lasted for more than five years. The need for promoting employability should also be assessed for those employees whose employment relationship is shorter or fixed-term.
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has published concise guidelines and forms that facilitate the identification and support of persons at risk of unemployment. In the new procedure, the occupational health services send the employee an occupational competency form to fill in. They can use the form to help in their own reflection and submit it to the employment services, if they wish. If specific needs for supporting work ability are identified based on the form, an in-person or remote consultation with occupational health care can be scheduled for surveying previously implemented work ability support measures and obtaining further information on the current situation, as well as the need for further action.
The employer makes the decision on how to provide work ability support at the end of the employment relationship. In practice, the new co-operation procedures can be agreed with the occupational health services provider, and recorded in the occupational health care action plan.
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New method to promote employability upon termination of employment (ttl.fi)