Others who can support the return to work

Additional supports outside the workplace

There are a range of supports that people may access outside the workplace that can assist their return to work. These include:

• General practitioners – Manage the full health needs of an individual, and may manage a period of mental ill-health, including referral to additional specialists. General practitioners are often responsible for assessing work capacity and providing certificates of capacity if required.
• Occupational and environmental physicians – Are doctors who specialise in managing work-related conditions. They assess an individual’s capacity to work and can advise on any accommodations that can support a return to work. They liaise with treating practitioners and the employer to assist people to return to work safely.
• Psychiatrists – Are doctors who are specialised in mental illness. They can provide expert assessment of mental illness, prescribe medication and provide psychological interventions.
• Psychologists or clinical psychologists – Are registered allied health professionals who provide a range of psychological treatments including behaviour therapies, relaxation strategies, skills training and interpersonal psychotherapy.
• Occupational therapists, social workers and rehabilitation counsellors – Are allied health professionals who may provide support for people to secure employment, stay at work or return to work safely for a range of physical and mental health conditions. 
• Mental health nurses – Are nurses with specialised training in supporting people experiencing periods of mental ill-health. This may be providing skills training, medication support or other interventions.
• Workplace rehabilitation providers – Help people recover through work, and often help address risk factors which may affect a worker's ability to recover at work.
• Lived experience peer workers – These workers have a lived experience of mental ill-health and can provide additional support to people as they navigate mental health services.
• Family, friends and peers – Are often invaluable in providing emotional and practical support to people returning to work. 

You can’t speak to or share information with anyone until the person returning to work gives their permission. And even then, there will be some information that can’t be shared. Make sure you know and understand your legal obligations about sharing information.

Working together to support return to work

Good communication between all parties involved in someone’s return to work helps this process go more smoothly, as good return to work is a collaborative effort between the worker, health professionals and the workplace.  

Health professionals can provide advice on capacity for work and may make recommendations for reasonable adjustments and suitability of the duties. They can also support someone’s return to work by including return-to-work steps in a treatment plan. Workplaces can provide information about work requirements and the work context that may help health professionals when they are advising on work capacity and inform treatment approaches. Workers can provide information about how they are going and their goals for returning to work, and any issues that health professionals or workplaces need to consider.

Before reaching out to people outside the workplace, it is important to understand any legal obligations related to privacy and information sharing. These may vary based on whether a person is returning to work under a workers compensation scheme. Seek the worker’s consent before contacting health professionals they are working with. 

Tips for working with health professionals

If an individual has consented for you to contact health professionals they are working with, these tips can help you make the most of this contact:

• Health professionals are likely to be busy; book a time in advance so you have enough time to talk.
• It can be useful to establish a shared goal of supporting an individual’s health upfront, so all parties know they are working towards the same goal.
• Where many health professionals are involved, it may be more efficient to book a case conference that brings everyone together at the same time.
• To help build trust and ensure effective cooperation, keep communication respectful, transparent and open. It is good practice to send summary notes on what was discussed and agreed at meetings or case conferences.
• Understand that, as health professionals, their primary concern will be the wellbeing of the individual. If they believe a return to work is not the right thing for an individual, it is important to understand why this is the case to see how any concerns can be addressed.
• Ask open questions such as “What do you think we could do to support a safe return to work?” to encourage information sharing. 
• Be ready with information on what the individual’s work currently entails and what adjustments you can make in your workplace. Health professionals may not be aware of what a person’s job entails or all the adjustments that may be possible. This information can help them determine if the person can return to work safely.
• Focus conversations on recovery and return to work, rather than causes, blame or pre-existing concerns. 

In some cases, health professionals cannot provide you with some information about a client or patient due to confidentiality requirements. However, you may still be able to give them information about the person if you have the appropriate consent. Keep the focus on the requirements of the job.