‘Playing it smart’ with return to work: small workplace experience under Ontario’s policy of self-reliance and early return

AbstractAlthough there is considerable research on the effectiveness of various approaches to promoting successful return to work after work-related injury or illness, little is known about the process in small workplaces. This paper reports on a study of the effects in small workplaces of a particular set of policies and practices in Ontario, Canada, called ‘early and safe return to work’, an approach that emphasises workplace self-reliance and return to work before complete recovery via ‘modified’ work accommodation. On the basis of qualitative analyses of documents and interviews with employers, injured workers and compensation/rehabilitation professionals, the study found that early and safe return to work can disrupt workplace norms and patterns of social interaction, and create hardship, albeit of different sorts, for both employers and workers. Employers experience conflict between their administrative role in the early and safe return-to-work process and the demands of running a small business, wh...