Psychosocial complaints cost Dutch employers €4.9 billion a year. In 3 out of 4 cases, work itself plays a role.
As an independent Corporate Social Worker, I can offer preventive support, before your employee "breaks down".
Even during sick leave, an employee who has dropped out due to mental health complaints benefits greatly from psychosocial support, which often significantly shortens the duration of their absence.
Corporate
Social Work
Psychosocial workload, such as work pressure, tension, and (looming) overload, costs Dutch employers money structurally. In 2023, this added up to €4.9 billion in continued salary payments, with sick leave for psychological complaints lasting an average of 63 working days. Work itself plays a role in three-quarters of these cases.
Corporate social work can intervene before your employee drops out. Through short-term, targeted support for a disrupted balance between work and personal life, stress, overload, and so on. When an employee is at risk of getting stuck, it's important to step in quickly and adequately, to prevent them from developing unpleasant, sometimes lasting, complaints.
International research underlines this effect of psychosocial interventions. A large-scale study of 141,000 counselling programmes (EAP schemes, mostly in the US) shows a return of $5.11 for every dollar invested. Those figures don't translate directly to the Netherlands, but the logic works even more strongly in the employer's favour here: in the event of illness, you continue paying salary for up to 104 weeks. Early intervention is therefore also the financially smartest route.
I'm not a replacement for the company doctor, but a complement. Where the company doctor addresses the medical side of absence, I take on the psychosocial side in a solution-focused way. This can be particularly valuable well before a medical trajectory becomes necessary. Curious what that could mean for your organisation? Leave your contact details via the button below and I'll call you back within one working day.