‘Decent’ Return-To-Work (RTW): the Relationship among Individual, Segmented Labor Market, and RTW Program

Abstract

This paper reviews diverse goals of RTW and develops a concept named ‘Decent Return-To-Work (RTW)’. The ‘decent RTW’, inspired by the ‘decent work’, involves workers’ rights to being RTW, fair opportunities for decent work and career development, workers’ rights in workplace, and employee’s recovery of injury and of socio-economic status. To investigate the ‘decent RTW’, a research model begins with a relationship among individual, segmented labor market, and public services supporting RTW. The PSWCI (Panel Study of Worker’s Compensation Insurance) data is analyzed with 1,217 individuals who has completed their medical treatment for work-related injury or illness in Korea. The research model is designed to capture variables in both pre- and post- injury (or after RTW) dimensions by using the 1st-3rd waves data. Findings indicate that labor market factors from pre-injury have a significant influence on the quality of employment after RTW. It is also discovered that divisions among workers encouraged by a segmented labor market are remained firmly even after their RTW. Fortunately, although those RTW programs are associated with the labor market segmentation, they may help overcome barriers to RTW encountered by injured workers.