1.
Personal attributes (worker) cover seven dimensions:
- Physical: physiological or anatomical restrictions; abilities; comorbidities;
- Mental, behavioral, emotional: mental health; psychological assets and barriers, and cognitive abilities; worker’s coping ability; motivation; job satisfaction; fulfillment; inertia; mental fatigue or energy; recovery expectations; performance expectations; self-confidence; attention; memory; reasoning; perception of injustice with respect to one’s condition, the insurer or the work environment;
- Social: social barriers and facilitators related to work ability (e.g., networking and bonding capacities, relational abilities, social skills, social awkwardness or behavioral weirdness).
- Demographic: relatively stable personal attributes (age; gender; immigration status; language; urban/rural area);
- Economic: financial latitude or restriction; monetary incentives to work (income; insurance plans; retirement plans; bonuses) or not to work (e.g., level of compensation benefits);
- Educational and vocational: professional skills; competencies; degrees; experience;
- Cultural/symbolic: occupational virtues (toleration; courage); meaning of work (seen as a right, a duty, an obligation, a need, a structure to the everyday life, a symbol of success, a means of rehabilitation); perception of the social role of sickness, disablement or impairment (the proclivity to see oneself, report oneself and/or behave according to one’s representation of the role that a person being sick or work-limited should take in society); personal ethics, values and attitudes towards work, life and disability (e.g., valorization of work, diligence, accountability).
2.
The work environment has six dimensions:
- Physical: biomechanical exposures and ergonomic conditions in the work environment, such as the physical workload, repetitive movements, static work, vibrations, etc.
- Mental, behavioral, emotional: psychosocial work attributes; demands and facilitators such as mental workload, stress and pressure (related to time, performance or productivity), decision latitude, job autonomy, and control of tasks or schedules.
- Social: relationships with colleagues and / or supervisors (e.g., support, stigma, tensions, friendships, collaboration); work interpersonal demands; legitimacy (degree to which an injured employee feels that others believe the authenticity of their injury and of their symptoms);
- Economic: job insecurity; opportunities for promotion, development or movement in the organizational structure; competitiveness and sustainability of the company or the sector; financial health of the company.
- Structural: sector; company size; accessibility (transportation, geographic location); structural ergonomic factors (equipment, technology, working stations)
- Organizational culture and work climate:
- Organizational culture: role of organizational norms, traditions, values, myths and beliefs in creating, maintaining or defining work disability.
- Work climate: leadership style, organizational structure (e.g., hierarchical, horizontal or vertical); accountability and behavior standards; communication patterns; trust or organizational connectiveness.
- Interaction between organizational culture and work climate: discrimination; commitment to hiring people with disabilities; openness to work accommodations; work disability management style; RTW policies; conflict resolution procedures; performance evaluation procedures; productivity or efficiency requirements; accountability, respect and valorization of workforce diversity or conformity; relationships with other work disability stakeholders (workers, clinicians, worker compensation board, relatives); employee assistance programs; promotion of health
3.
The insurance and legislative system comprise six dimensions:
- Economic: income replacement policies; other allowances; permanent impairment;
- Professional: reintegration at work; professional reorientation; training; coaching;
- Legal: admissibility; work accommodations; files processing; contestations;
- Social: social recognition; help and services; stigma;
- Physical: medical evaluation; help and services;
- Mental, behavioral, emotional: psychological evaluation; help and services.
4.
The societal dynamics, macro infrastructures and systems have four dimensions :
- Politicolegal: elements related to the political and legislative context and orientations among intra- or international jurisdictions affecting work disability through healthcare, welfare, education, health and safety promotion at work, unemployment, retirement, labor regulations, or more generally, public policies, political agendas and priorities;
- Macroeconomic: impact of local and national labor market demands and dynamics, unemployment rates, job insecurity, availability or work, technological development, changes in industries (e.g., globalization, workforce downsizing, delocalization);
- Sociodemographic: the way sociological and demographic trends affect work disability through elements like population aging, working age shift, sex/gender differences in labor participation, or language and cultural barriers;
- Cultural: points out that cultural values and norms change from a society to the next, potentially impacting work disability (e.g., the meaning of work in a protestant versus a catholic culture or the way political movement and historical union labor force battles shaped the current working relationships).