Pratt and Whitney Canada (PWC) is:
- An aerospace company that manufactures airplane engines.
- A leader in customer care in the business, general and utility aviation, air carriers, helicopters, and military and utility applications sectors.
- A global presence with 60,000 engines in service in more than 200 countries and territories.
- A company with 9400 employees, including 5950 in Canada (4800 in Québec alone).
- A head office in Longueuil, on the south shore of Montréal.
- A company of United Technologies Corporation, a high technology company located in Farmington, Connecticut.
Approach
“Work is an anchor in the recovery of an employee on disability in terms of both psychological and physical health. Feeling like you are still contributing, like you still have abilities, that you are supported and expected are important elements in an employee’s recovery process.”
This is a good description of the approach of Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) – a world leader in the aerospace market – when it comes to disability management. Having Health and Wellness Services and an Employee Well-being and Assistance Program (EWAP) on site shows that the employee is truly at the heart of the company.
It was at the request of managers that the company set up, around ten years ago, the Return to Work Protocol – a process that was put in place to support employees from the start of their disability leave until their return to work. “Managers had some very legitimate questions, like ‘How do we know if the employee is integrating well upon their return?’ and ‘How can I, along with the team, make it easier for my employee to return?’, for example,” notes Marie-Christine Gran, director of EWAP. In this way, with EWAP and an on-site health service for employees already in place, the employer depended on having best practices in place to establish a protocol that supports the employee at every step.
The implementation of a return to work protocol allows
- A rapid intervention with the employee from the start of their disability leave
- Implementation of the resources needed for their recovery from disability
- A sustained follow-up of their progress
- Establishment of conditions for success upon their return to work
- To reduce the length of the absence
- To reduce the risks of relapse
- To equip the employee and increase their confidence in their abilities
- To identify contributing factors in the workplace (certain problems related to management, the work environment, workload, etc.)
“Managers had some very legitimate questions, like ‘How do we know if the employee is integrating well upon their return?’ and ‘How can I, along with the team, make it easier to welcome back my employee?’, for example.”
- Marie-Christine Gran, director of EWAP.
Services that are integrated, but separate and confidential
PWC’s Health and Wellness Services are offered internally, in separate offices at the head office in Longueuil (Québec, Canada) and in facilities in St. Hubert, Mississauga and Halifax. These services are part of PWC’s culture and are a greatly appreciated resource at all levels of the organization. They ensure front-line medical care for employees, as well as medical supervision and disability management, among other services. Diagnoses and treatment plans are entirely confidential, never disclosed. When the return to work is imminent, only information that will help with the employee’s positive integration will be shared, if applicable, such as their limitations, restrictions and necessary accommodations to allow them to do their work.
In this way, the nurses of Health and Wellness Services serve as “windows” – every employee on disability is in the capable hands of these nurses, who assess the factors that contributed to the employee’s leave from work from the first meeting. The employee will also be referred to EWAP. This first meeting with an EWAP advisor will create a trust relationship, explore the employee’s beliefs and concerns regarding time away from work, reassure them and put in place the resources needed for their recovery.
Often, top employers have high-performing employees. And these employees strive to avoid letting down their work teams and ask a lot of themselves, which can lead them to wait too long before asking for help and avoiding a work disruption, if possible. The advantage of a disability management program is precisely to promote early intervention. “The beauty of a front-line medical team is being able to do early detection with employees who can raise any flags before getting to that point,” explains Michèle Fournier, nurse manager at Health and Wellness Services. “So, when possible, we can promote having people keep working by adjusting or reducing the task as needed.” For example, in this “sandwich generation” era – those men and women who still have children at home and must also care for aging parents – the employer understands that sometimes flexibility is needed to allow employees to put support systems in place so they can carry out their various responsibilities while continuing to be valuable contributors.
“The beauty of a front-line medical team is being able to do early detection with employees who can raise any flags before getting to that point”.
- Michèle Fournier, nurse manager at Health and Wellness Services.
All services… serving the employee
From the first meeting with the nurse, even before starting disability leave, the employee is already being supported by Health Services and EWAP. This follow-up continues during medical visits during disability (normally scheduled every six to eight weeks) and until after the employee’s return to work. Throughout the follow-up, the team on the case oversees the determinants of disability and checks that the treatment is optimal. If it’s not, what more can they do, how can they do better, what other resources are needed?
Return-to-work meeting as a multidisciplinary team
When the employee’s return-to-work date is known or imminent, the nurse who is doing the follow-up plans a meeting with all the key players involved: human resources, the manager, the case doctor and nurse, a representative of EWAP and other internal and external partners as needed (for example, a union representative, if the employee is part of a union; an ergonomist). “The meeting has several objectives,” explains Ms. Gran: “to identify and create winning conditions to ensure a successful return to work, anticipate potential problems upon the return to work (logistical and human), explain properly how a progressive return works, determine success indicators and their development over time, and above all, remind people that they must put in context the symptoms that led to the break from work to give the employee the chance to start fresh in the best circumstances and the best conditions.” No doubt this better disposes all those involved with the case to promote a smooth and sustainable return to work.
As Ms. Fournier reminds us, based on best practices reported on return-to-work approaches, “We must not wait until the employee is 100% able to return before reintegrating them. Rather, we must bank on keeping the employee’s connection to work throughout their disability leave and prepare them for a progressive return when there is a significant improvement in their condition. This allows a return to the employee’s and the department’s productivity, while promoting a sustainable return, and therefore a reduction in relapses. It’s a win-win proposition for the employee and the employer.” The employee returns to their team more quickly and to the dignity of work they receive, while reducing the risk of relapse thanks to awareness and new skills acquired during their disability leave. The employer limits recurrences, disruption of the team and related costs to find and train replacements. Employers would therefore benefit from banking on maintaining the link with the workplace while the employee is on disability, among other things to reinforce the sense of belonging and making sure that the employee benefits from tools acquired throughout the follow-up during the disability leave.
The program has proven its worth time and time again. “At a time when change is at the heart of our business realities, banking on the employee’s abilities rather than their disabilities helps to reintegrate employees and even allows some to end their career with dignity. After being off work for more than a year, the rate of return to work is greatly reduced, and after 2 years, it’s nearly impossible. And yet, our company has been able to bring employees back to work and keep them there after such lengths of absence.” A real feat in a job market that needs all talents to grow and face future challenges.