Work-related determinants of return to work of employees on long-term sickness absence.

PURPOSE The aim of the study is to identify work-related determinants of return to work (RTW) of employees who are on long-term sickness absence. METHOD The study was based on a sample of 926 employees on sickness absence (maximum duration of 12 weeks). The employees filled out a baseline questionnaire and were subsequently followed until the 10th month after listing sick. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to identify determinants of RTW. RESULTS Working in one of the vocational sectors public administration, construction, financial and commercial services, transport, or education (P = 0.00) and having low co-worker support (P = 0.01) were related to longer duration to RTW in the multivariate model. Having low supervisor support (P = 0.01) was associated with a higher RTW rate. CONCLUSIONS Vocational sector is a strong predictor of RTW. Especially employees from the sector education are slow as to RTW. The observed association between low supervisor support and RTW was unexpected. However, the study confirms earlier research on the association between low co-worker support and RTW.