While successfully reintegrating employees into the workplace following an illness or injury clearly benefits the returning employee, it also benefits employers by enabling employees to continue contributing to the organization and mitigating costs such as premiums.
During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Mental Health Summit, Robert Cross, senior director of claims, contact centres, group benefits and retirement solutions at iA Financial Group, walked attendees through the important elements of a workplace accommodation framework. Specifically, he said it’s critical to comply with applicable legal requirements and obligations, set clear objectives and goals, define stakeholder roles and responsibilities, ensure documentation of actions and decisions, establish collaboration and communication protocols and create mechanisms to manage, monitor and improve the framework.
Read: How to successfully reintegrate a returning worker from disability leave
“It’s really beneficial to understand upfront what it is you can offer to employees when returning back to work. That can be done on a case-by-case basis, but it’s very powerful when an organization is able to define [available accommodations] at a broad level,” added Cross, noting creativity and outside-the-box thinking can help to support reintegration when progressive or gradual return to work is necessary.
“It’s always important to think of equitable treatment — so, ensuring your framework can actually provide a consistent experience for everyone — but, at the same time, understand there might be those exceptional situations that may come up.”
Looking beyond the returning employee, he suggested a workplace accommodation framework consider other employees as well. After all, those left behind experience disruption both when someone goes on leave and when they return. Employers need to consider how they can discourage negative actions and behaviours and encourage positive behaviours and actions among colleagues.
Read: Dealing with stigma of returning to work after mental-health leave
When an employee returns from a leave prompted by a mental-health challenge, it can be more difficult to tailor support, noted Cross, because the employer isn’t always privy to the medical diagnosis for privacy reasons. That’s why he advocates prioritizing mental well-being for every employee returning to work.
What does that look like? It involves understanding all cognitive restrictions and limitations, he said, ensuring accommodations are meaningful, suitable and provide sufficient ramp-up time, as well as building detailed return-to-work plans with milestones, times, dates, tasks and expectations. It also means dedicating resources to re-onboard, retrain and reorient returning employees and scheduling regular check-ins and a feedback loop.
“The purpose . . . is to bring individuals back to work and make sure it’s a clear and safe and inclusive type of experience for everyone.”
Read more coverage of the 2025 Mental Health Summit.