1. Selected topics

Return to work, accommodation and support

IWH has a long history of conducting research on practices, policies and processes that help workers sustainably return to work after an illness or an injury. This page pulls together IWH research and resources on employer supports, job accommodations and modifications, as well as other related issues such as disclosure of disability.

Featured

Speakers address participants at IDEA Symposium
At Work article

Inclusive employment strategies, resources showcased at symposium

Published: November 12, 2025
Project
Project

Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Understanding the long-term recovery and labour market outcomes of injured workers in the shadow of COVID-19

Building on IWH's original Ontario Life After Work Injury Study (OLAWIS), IWH is looking in particular at the long-term outcomes of people who were recovering and returning to work during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Status: Ongoing
Journal article
Journal article

Sleep disturbances and disability following work-related injury and illness: examining longitudinal relationships across three follow-up waves

Published: Journal of Sleep Research, June 2021
Journal article
Journal article

Support for depression in the workplace: perspectives of employees, managers, and OHS personnel

Published: Occupational Health Science, June 2021
A masked young woman works at a hotel reception desk
At Work article

Education, type of work lessen pandemic job loss in youths with rheumatic diseases

Young adults with rheumatic diseases have generally faced greater challenges in the job market than their healthy peers. That was why an IWH research team set out to examine their work experiences during the pandemic.
Published: June 2021
Journal article
Journal article

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, financial worries, and perceived organizational support among people living with disabilities in Canada

Published: Disability and Health Journal, June 2021
rehab and community care logo
IWH in the media

Episodic health conditions

There's no simple "yes" or "no" answer to the question, “Should I tell my employer I have a chronic condition that sometimes makes it hard to work?” At the Institute for Work & Health, researchers have been working to develop a research-based decision-making tool. In one of the studies conducted to support the tool’s evidence base, the team explored people’s reasons for disclosing their episodic condition and found they do matter to the support they get, writes Dr. Monique Gignac.
Published: Rehab & Community Care, April 2021
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series

Differences in the return-to-work process for work-related psychological and musculoskeletal conditions: findings from an Australian cohort

Many workers’ compensation agencies across Canada have begun accepting claims for chronic mental stress that results from work. In other jurisdictions where psychological claims have been accepted, such types of claims have been linked with greater costs and longer time off compared to physical claims. The potential reasons for these differences have not been well understood. In this IWH Speaker Series presentation, Dr. Peter Smith presents findings from a cohort study of 869 workers’ compensation claimants in the Australian state of Victoria. He highlights differences between the two groups of claimants (psychological and musculoskeletal) in their experiences of the claim and return-to-work processes, and discusses lessons for Canadian jurisdictions.
Published: April 2021
Journal article
Journal article

The association between case manager interactions and serious mental illness following a physical workplace injury or illness: a cross-sectional analysis of workers' compensation claimants Ontario

Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, April 2021
A woman works at a laundry service
At Work article

Precarity more likely for older, new workers with disabilities

An IWH study finds the risks of working in precarious jobs are the same for people with and without disabilities. But among people with disabilities, precarity is more likely when people are older or have less job tenure.
Published: March 2021
Journal article
Journal article

Disclosure, privacy and workplace accommodation of episodic disabilities: organizational perspectives on disability communication-support processes to sustain employment

Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, March 2021