Two procedures

Workplace reintegration management (BEM) under § 167 para. 2 of the Social Code Book IX (SGB IX) is a clarification process led by the employer together with the person concerned and the other participants. The employer must offer it if employees were unfit for work for more than six weeks within a year. Gradual return to work under § 74 of the Social Code Book V (SGB V) is a measure of medical rehabilitation: insured persons who are unfit for work but can partly perform their previous activity are brought back step by step to the full workload. The two procedures can work together; a gradual return to work is a possible measure within BEM, but it is not BEM. The duty, participants and course of BEM are described in the article Workplace reintegration management under § 167 SGB IX.

Conditions for gradual return to work

A condition is a medical finding that the activity is partly possible again and that the return supports recovery. The treating physician draws up the step-by-step plan with the insured person, setting out start, duration, daily working hours and tasks for each step. Employer and health insurer must agree; the employer is obliged to agree only in certain cases, such as for severely disabled people under § 164 para. 4 SGB IX. The measure is voluntary and can be stopped at any time.

Step-by-step plan and remuneration

During the gradual return to work, unfitness for work continues. The person receives sickness benefit from the health insurer or, where the pension insurance is responsible after rehabilitation, transitional allowance; salary is not owed but can be paid voluntarily. The duration follows from the medical step-by-step plan. The step-by-step plan is adjusted as needed.

Employer tasks

The employer checks whether the activities and times set out in the step-by-step plan can be implemented, organises the workplace and work scheduling, and names a contact person. For this it needs the information in the step-by-step plan, not the diagnosis. The article BEM: data protection and documentation describes what data may be collected in the reintegration process. In BEM, further measures are examined in parallel, such as permanent adjustment of the workplace or benefits from rehabilitation providers.

Role of the occupational physician

The occupational physician knows the requirements of the workplace. With the consent of the employee concerned, they can pass the workplace-related requirements to the treating physician and advise on designing the steps; under § 3 of the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG), advising on reintegration is among their tasks. They do not replace the treating physician and do not draw up the step-by-step plan themselves.

Evaluation and practice

Once the process is complete, the employer, the employee and the other participants check whether the return has been successful and whether further adjustments are needed. Sources of error are a step-by-step plan that is too steep, lack of coordination with the manager, and mixing gradual return to work with regular part-time work. We support companies with workplace-related coordination and with the organisation of BEM. We arrange on-site appointments with companies in the Ingolstadt, Munich and Upper Bavaria area; advice and meetings are available nationwide by video.