BETA, Safe Work Australia release 15-page guide for SMEs to help staff return to work

The behavioural economics team known as BETA has crafted materials in association with Safe Work Australia to adapt return-to-work materials for use for small-to-medium enterprises.

BETA resides within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and works on projects that have the objective of getting various sectors more productive.

In this case, BETA took existing materials that related to employers helping employees get back to work and fossicked around a bit to get the right tone for small business owners and their employees.

“BETA collaborated with Safe Work Australia to adapt these existing return-to-work materials for use by supervisors in Small and Medium Enterprises. We undertook a literature review, stakeholder consultation, and data analysis,” the BETA team said.

“Key findings from this diagnostic research informed the first round of revisions to the original return to work guidance materials. Next, we user-tested the revised materials with 12 supervisors working in SMEs, and made further changes based on their feedback.”

The work resulted in a 15-page guide that is designed to keep things simple for those in small businesses trying to get employees back to work.

There is a range of things covered by the guide, including how to approach contact with a worker when they have been injured as well as what should happen when they return to work.

BETA worked through a similar exercise about four years ago when it looked at the public service aspects of return-to-work issues with the Department of Employment.

“BETA partnered with the (then) Department of Employment to develop behaviourally-informed materials to guide supervisors in their conversations with ill/injured employees during their return to work journey,” BETA said.

“The materials were tested with the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and supervisors reported they were valuable in assisting them to manage the return to work process.”

This article was first published on The Mandarin.