Christian Mutuality

The social-medical team consists of three IDEWE occupational doctors and two employees from Christian Mutuality: reintegration coach Inge and a colleague from HR. “The key word in our collaboration is trust,” explains Inge. “As we are always discussing personal files, it is crucial that all the information stays between us. Our colleagues need to know that their stories are safe with us.”

Royal Decree gives Christian Mutuality a helping hand

How did the social-medical team come about? “On 1 December 2016, a new Royal Decree on reintegrating employees on long-term sick leave came into force. At Christian Mutuality, we naturally wanted to turn the legislation into reality as far as possible. And that’s why we set up a working group.”

The working group decided to develop an integral policy on long-term incapacity for work. Legal reintegration is one option available to staff, but it’s not the only one. “The Antwerp division of Christian Mutuality took the lead in developing the policy,” says Inge. “To this end, we sought help from IDEWE, and one of their occupational doctors told us we could start working closer with them through a social-medical team.”

Keep offering a helping hand

Employees on long-term sick leave often feel socially isolated. How do you maintain a strong bond?

• Keep in touch – Most employees on long-term sick leave want to return to work, but the barrier to returning gets higher if they don’t hear from their manager for months on end. Send an email or call them regularly to ask how things are going.
• Be empathetic – Employees on long-term sick leave often have to deal with stress and uncertainty. Listen to their story and show you understand.
• Engage in small talk – Talk about light subjects. If something funny, crazy or memorable happened at work recently, tell your colleague about it.

During the half-yearly meeting, the social-medical team discusses all files, including those of employees who aren’t (yet) following a legal reintegration process. “This allows us to respond faster and help more colleagues on sick leave get back to work more quickly.”

Inge and her colleague also review the illness policy of Christian Mutuality’s Antwerp division during this meeting. 
“The occupational doctors always give us very useful advice. As an example, they advised us to separate the work and healing process more. Employees do not have to be fully healed before they can return to work. Indeed, meaningful work is often part of the healing process. On the other hand, you sometimes have to dare to say that we’ve done our best, but we must go our separate ways.”

Another lesson Inge learned: “The longer someone is unfit for work, the higher the barriers to returning to work. That’s why occupational doctors often arrange interim consultations, particularly in cases involving psychosocial aspects. Doing so allows occupational doctors and colleagues on long-term sick leave to build up a relationship of trust, which in turn enables the social-medical team to better assess the situation.”

What does a reintegration coach do?

In addition to her HR tasks, Inge also acts as a reintegration coach, which is in itself a recognised role within Christian Mutuality. “I coordinate the long-term incapacity for work process for employees who are off work for at least one month. Specifically, this means I’m allowed to initiate discussions about files, contact those involved and advise the executive committee. It’s a wide-ranging role, but one that gives me a huge amount of satisfaction.”

Ready for a national roll-out

Inge is pleased that the work surrounding long-term incapacity for work is well underway. “Christian Mutuality is moving towards a new organisational structure using a multi-year action plan. This change is bringing some stress with it – and rising numbers of people off work due to illness. It’s a good thing that we can rely on the social-medical team.”

Inge and her colleagues are now looking at how they can roll out the approach taken by Christian Mutuality’s Antwerp division across Belgium. “We’d give all departments one piece of advice: start working closely with the IDEWE Group. You’ll soon see that their advice and expertise will benefit your operations.”