gms | German Medical Science

Background: Workplace-related welfare policy in Switzerland has been dominated in recent decades by the principle of “getting people back to work.” Since the turn of this century, however, a new principle has emerged: “keeping people at work” [1], [2].

Aim: The new orientation focuses not on returning people to work after full medical treatment or a loss of employment but on new types of “activation” policies and practices. This new work-activation-focused policy emphasizes prevention and early intervention, especially workplace safety and health promotion, in order to keep people at work.

Method: Document study of policy documents and legal analysis of regulatory frameworks in Switzerland.

Results/findings: Recent changes to the Swiss welfare state demonstrate a shift from “social investment” to health promotion [1]. With this shift, workplace health gained new importance and made employers more responsible for creating and maintaining healthy workplaces, promoting good health, and preventing work-related illness and injury [3].

Discussion and conclusions: The paper shows how the most recent reforms to the Swiss welfare state have been implemented, and it discusses the reforms’ impact on the health and social security of employees. The main argument is that, compared with earlier policies that removed injured or ill employees from work to recuperate and then returned them to work, recent policies bring the welfare state and social security measures closer to companies and workplaces, by requesting cooperation and support in keeping at work people at risk of severe illness or permanent disabilities.

This presentation is derived from on a chapter in The Science and Politics of Work Disability Prevention [4] which addresses the social, political and economic contexts driving state work disability reform in 13 countries.