Developing a Work Accommodation Operating Model for Workplaces and Work Ability Support Services

Workplace accommodation can help employees with disabilities remain employed or access employment rather than leave the labor force. However, the workplace accommodation process is still poorly understood and documented.

The aim of this study was to develop a national operating model to make workplace accommodation interactive and procedural for workplaces and work ability support services and lower the threshold to making accommodations.

The collaborative development process was carried out by a multiprofessional expert team with eleven workplaces in the private and public sectors in Finland. The design of this study was conceptual and developmental. The development process of the operating model consisted of four phases: the orientation phase, the joint planning phase, the implementation advancement phase, and the instilling phase.

The operating model has six stages: 1) identifying needs, 2) gathering knowledge, 3) exploring alternatives, 4) selecting solutions, 5) implementing solutions, and 6) monitoring and evaluating. The model defines the actions, roles, and responsibilities for each phase. To help implement the model, we published an information package, a guide, a planning formula, and a video animation in Finnish and Swedish.

The operating model is a tool that workplaces and work ability support services can use to help working-aged people remain employed or access employment. Future studies should determine the workplace-specific functionality of this model using implementation research.