The Be At Work Program (formerly called Disability Management Program) is designed to provide an effective medical accommodation process for employees experiencing an illness, injury or disability and help ministries administer the PS 705 Employee Accommodation Policy.
What is medical accommodation?
Medical accommodation is the right thing to do and a legal responsibility. Legal obligations known as the Duty to Accommodate are part of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code (SHRC), the Saskatchewan Employment Act, arbitral jurisprudence, and applicable collective bargaining agreement provisions. These protect the rights of persons with disabilities against discrimination in employment and ensure fair and equitable treatment. Failure to intervene early and consider a medical accommodation to the point of undue hardship is a contravention of the legislation.
Successful medical accommodation and return to work (RTW) planning requires collaboration, flexibility and creativity in order to help an employee with an illness, injury or disability maintain their position or return to alternative productive and meaningful employment, as soon as it is medically safe to do so.
The goal of medical accommodation and RTW planning is to minimize preventable absences where safe, alternative work options are available. This process complements the terms of any applicable collective agreement.
Responsive and timely medical accommodation and RTW planning contribute to a healthy, inclusive workplace where all employees are engaged and able to contribute to the Service Excellence of the Saskatchewan Public Service.
A manager who is responsive and intervenes early to support a medical accommodation process benefits all employees by creating a respectful, inclusive and productive workplace.
Be At Work Application
A component of the program includes a software application in PSC Client. The application provides a number of benefits to help managers and supervisors manage employee medical accommodations, such as:
- A standard approach for managing medical accommodation cases.
- All and entire case management files stored electronically in one location.
- Increasing privacy of employee medical records
- Supporting existing ministry processes for managing medical accommodation cases.
- Access to tools and training in the application.
- Reporting and delegation features.
The Be At Work application is accessed through your PSC Client. There is an icon on the main screen of a manager/supervisor's PSC Client dashboard where you can create new Be At Work cases and manage active cases.
When to use the application
Managers and supervisors will use the application in the following situations:
- An employee requires a medical leave or sick leave absence for more than five consecutive workdays or shifts e.g. extended illness or upcoming surgery.
- An employee experiences a workplace illness or injury.
- A manager or supervisor requires additional medical information to validate sick leave.
- An employee requires or requests an accommodation or specialized equipment to address a medical restriction.
Managers and supervisors who receive a new case or are currently managing an active medical accommodation file are required to enter the employee into the Be At Work application.
Training
Managing a medical accommodation is not an everyday occurrence, so you can learn how to use the Be At Work application when you need to. There are links to tips and training modules within the application that help guide you through each step of the process. Simply click on the question mark on the top right corner, in each step of the application, to access these tutorials. These tutorials are also available in Taskroom.
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- Step 1 - Identification Information
- Step 2 - Forms Activity
- Step 3 - Absence Details
- Step 4 - Stay at Work/Return to Work Details
