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Professional RTW conversations

Building trust, developing solutions, activating resources

Professional preparation and support for employees returning to work (RTW) should involve personalized, one-on-one trusting conversations together with the returning employees. In this process, returning employees are perceived as "experts on their own behalf". The joint dialogue focuses on creating individual, social, and operational conditions that allow employees to return to work as independently as possible. Interview techniques should be customized to meet the specific needs, requirements, and wishes of the returning employees.

This baua: Facts complements the baua: Guidance "Die Rückkehr gemeinsam gestalten - Wiedereingliederung nach psychischen Krisen" [Managing RTW Together: Returning to Work after Mental Crises].

English translation. German original version available:
doi:10.21934/baua:fakten20210603

Bibliographic information

Title :  Professional RTW conversations. Building trust, developing solutions, activating resources

Written by:   A. Sikora, R. Stegmann, U. B. Schröder, I. L. Schulz

1. edition .  Dortmund:  Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, 2024. 
(RTW - Return to Work 3)
pages:  4, Project number : F 2385, F 2386, PDF file , DOI: 10.21934/baua:facts20241216

Download file "Professional RTW conversations" (PDF , 230 KB, Barrier-free file )

Further Publications

Managing RTW Together: Returning to Work after Mental Crises

baua: Guidance 2021

(in German)

The proportion of workers on sick leave due to mental illnesses such as depression, adjustment disorders, and anxiety has risen constantly in recent years in Germany. Mental disorders are now the second-most-common diagnosis group for which sick notes are issued. As a result, returning to work …

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Gradual return to work (GRTW)

baua: Facts 2024

Gradual return to work (GRTW) is a voluntary, medical-therapeutic measure for employees who are unable to work and who are returning to work one step a time after a long or severe illness. GRTW is frequently used interchangeably with the German term "Hamburger Modell". The measure is anchored in § …

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Psychosomatic and psychotherapeutic consultation at work (PCW/PT-A)

baua: Facts 2024

Psychosomatic (PCW) and psychotherapeutic (PT-A) consultation at work offers employees easy access to counseling by medical or psychological therapists. It can support employees during mental health crises, provide coaching in stressful situations, and serve as an early detection tool for mental …

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Further Information

Return to Work (RTW) and Operational Integration Management (OIM)

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Research Project

Project number F 2385 Status Completed Project Determinants of a successful return to work among persons with common mental disorders: a mixed-methods-follow-up-study (Project 2a)

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Research completed

Project number F 2386 Status Completed Project Mental illness in the working environment and return to work: Mixed methods follow-up study on the determinants for a successful Return to Work from the employees' perspective (project 2b - qualitative part) - results of the qualitative sub-study

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Research completed

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