Research substantiates that work is therapeutic as work assists recovery.

Engaging in work:

• Improves general health;
• Reduces psychological distress;
• Reduces psychiatric illness;
• Lowers morbidity rates; and
• Improves physical functioning.

Work absence tends to perpetuate itself. That is, the longer someone is off work, the less likely they will ever return.

In a study for the Victorian WorkCover Authority, Johnson and Fry noted that if an injured employee is off work for:

• 20 days the chance of ever getting back to work is 70%;
• 45 days the chance of ever getting back to work is 50%; and
• 70 days the chance of ever getting back to work is 35%.

Compass Group is a signatory organisation to the Australian Consensus Statement of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) on the Health Benefits of Good Work.

Compass Group acknowledges that good work can play a central role in contributing to team members’ health and wellbeing. When practicable, we encourage and accommodate team members to remain connected to the workplace while recovering from illness or injury, as this facilitates shorter recovery times and prevents unnecessary disability (Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Charter of Principles, 2015).