What is a return-to-work interview?
The return-to-work interview is a conversation between manager and employee after an illness-related absence. It has no legal basis of its own and is voluntary. Done well it signals appreciation and clarifies support needs; done badly it acts as a control and pressure tool.
Difference from BEM
- Return interview: informal, voluntary, no legal basis.
- BEM (§167 (2) SGB IX): legally mandatory, structured, data-protection-compliant, from more than six weeks of incapacity within twelve months.
A fair process – and what is taboo
- Allowed: interest in wellbeing, offering support, asking about work-related strain.
- Taboo: asking about the specific diagnosis, pressure, an interrogation atmosphere, linking to sanctions.
Better than control: prevention
If return interviews keep surfacing the same work-related causes, that is a signal: individual talks won't help – systematic prevention will. The psychological risk assessment under §5 ArbSchG uncovers such stressors anonymously and systematically, before employees drop out at all. Learn more →