Return to work is often not seen as a primary function of workers’ compensation systems, particularly in the United States. The International Association of Industrial Accident Boards & Commissions (IAIABC) is making a concerted effort to create a movement to help system stakeholders not only understand the value and benefits of return to work programs, but support them within their own organizations and in partnership with other system stakeholders. The investments that organizations make in return to work will be seen not only in economic terms, but in societal terms as well.

As a part of this movement, the IAIABC’s Disability Management and Return to Work Committee developed a paper, Return to Work: A Foundational Approach to Return to Function. The paper lays out the benefits to six different workers’ compensation stakeholder groups for developing and supporting return to work. By providing stakeholders with tangible benefits for their investments, the Committee believes it will garner more support for return to work throughout North America, in particular, and around the world.