Vocational rehabilitation is an ongoing issue that directly or indirectly affects everyone at a workplace. In recent years, laws and rules have changed. The 1st July 2008 changes were made in the General Insurance Act (SFS 1962:381). These changes have meant that there is now a so-called rehabilitation chain.  The rehabilitation chain contains time frames for when sick people will have their ability to work tested against their normal work or to other jobs. If a person is considered having enough capacity to be able to work he or she will lose their entitlement to sick pay.The aim of our study is to investigate managers? perceptions of the new rehabilitation chain, with a focus on vocational rehabilitation of long-term sick to get them back to work.The method used was qualitative and data collection was done through nine semi-structured interviews.

AbstractFrom 1st of July 2003 it is compulsory for companies with an average number of ten employees the latest two financial years to account sick leave in the annual report.The government?s purpose with accounting of sick leave was partly to evoke an action from the companies? side in terms of motion as an effect due to the awareness of the level of the sick leave. The government was of the opinion that the companies had too deficient knowledge in sick leave and that the knowledge about causes and costs had to increase.In this paper three companies affected by the compulsory accounting of sick leave have been interviewed. The paper defines to only concern private companies. The companies were interviewed in purpose to form an opinion of whether the companies have changed their health promoting actions due to the application of the law.

The purpose of this paper is to study the rules of the bill 2007/08: 136 "Areformed sick-leave process of increased return to work" as related to therehabilitation chain. In the interpretation of the material I have used the ?practicallegal method? and a minor empirical study has been conducted to find out howRegion Skåne and UMAS adjust their activities to the new regulations.The government aims to reduce sick leave and on March 19, 2008,the above mentioned bill was presented to the Riksdag. The bill is a part of thegovernment's package of measures and contains proposals for a revised sick-leaveprocess. The rehabilitation chain is a part of the package and includes actions witha tighter schedule.The employer is still after the new rules playing a central role in thesick-leave process and must through early and continuous contact with theworkers start the rehabilitation process.

Every year many individuals became sick listed, it could be for a long time, or a short time but irrespective there will beeffects on the individuals life and on the society. The aim of this study was to describe some relevant psychosocial relationships in the workplace that effect that women become sick listed. The method of the study was a literary study which was based on a number of scientific articles. The result of the study showed that many different factors effects the risk of becoming sick listed. Factors that causes sick leave where many and individual, but lack of social support, bullying, unstructured work environment and theworkplaces management, imbalance between demands and control and the women's situation were factors that had a big influence.

 Inner resistanceThe aim of this study was to investigate the existence of an internal resistance to a work-related change in people who are long-term sick, and if this is related to an identification as ?long-term sick?. A second purpose to the study was to research in which way this internal resistance to a work-related change manifests and point to possible solutions. A qualitative study was conducted with interviews of experts and people on sick leave to illuminate the subject. The main result was divided into interviewed groups.

The work related illness has increased and instead of focusing on what?s causing it more and more efforts are put on trying to find the health factors within and outside the work environment. During the past years the term ?long-term health? has arisen; instead of focusing on the number of employees on the sick-list, the focus should be put on the number of employees that has a record of long-term health within an organization, i.e. health-presence.

Our population are ageing. As this happens more people will be in need of long term care facilities. We now know that some elderly people with certain background factors are more likely to be injured or sick. One of the four biggest background factors is fall propensity. Most of the reported falls come from long term care facilities, approximately 60 % of the care takers in long term care facilities fall one time or more each year.

The purpose of this paper is to create an understanding of the negotiation process behind the decision of who will stay at home with a sick child and to develop the knowledge of the mechanisms considered to affect the negotiation process, in particular, the mechanisms likely to contribute to an uneven use of care leave. In the study six interviews were conducted with three sets of parents. These interviews were then analysed with Janet Finch?s (1989) definition of negotiation of family responsibilities. The study finds that the negotiation on care leave is a result of the negotiation of the shared view of reality.

Länsförsäkringar in Värmland, Sweden, had during the year 2003 a total level of 6.1 percent of people on the sick-list, which was higher than average in the business (4,5%) and for salaried employees in the private sector (3,3%). The average age of those put on sick-list was 47 years, whish is four years higher than the average for the whole LF-group. The cost for the total amount of people being on sick-list at LF-company (6,1%) was estimated to 1 500 kkr, according to a calculation model coming from Försäkringskassan. For every percent the sick level could be reduced, the company would save 239 kkr. To map out the state of health of each and every collaborator in LF, the company offered all employees to make a health profile at the company's health service, Clarahälsan AB.

Aim and questions: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the responsibilities employers have for rehabilitation and to explore how it conforms to an employers' actual condi-tions. Furthermore, the intention is to increase knowledge of how employers interact with other partners in the rehabilitation process and what affects sick people to return to work. The following three questions form the basis of this paper: What are employers? responsibilities for rehabilitation under the law and how is it consistent with an employer's actual conditions? What is the role of employers in the rehabilitation co- operation with other actors? What factors influence sick people to return to work?Method: The paper has used a true scientific and a legal sociological method to examine how the regulated employer responsibility for rehabilitation relates to what is practical in re-ality. To achieve the purpose, four empirical interviews were conducted with Örebro Municipality, Insurance, occupational health Previa and a doctor, which all of them have an important role in the rehabilitation process.

It is now increasingly common for organisations to work actively with HR issues. Furthermore, it is a constant top priority for organisations to remain profitable. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether so called soft HR values, as manager?s communication skills, has an actual impact on hard values in terms of costs for the organisation. Leadership is largely characterised by emotional communication, which together with personnel costs were the main focus of the research.

Länsförsäkringar in Värmland, Sweden, had during the year 2003 a total level of 6.1 percent of people on the sick-list, which was higher than average in the business (4,5%) and for salaried employees in the private sector (3,3%). The average age of those put on sick-list was 47 years, whish is four years higher than the average for the whole LF-group. The cost for the total amount of people being on sick-list at LF-company (6,1%) was estimated to 1 500 kkr, according to a calculation model coming from Försäkringskassan. For every percent the sick level could be reduced, the company would save 239 kkr. To map out the state of health of each and every collaborator in LF, the company offered all employees to make a health profile at the company's health service, Clarahälsan AB.

This paper is about the psychosocial work environment, and those factors that can be responsible for an employee?s sick leave. We have through our knowledge from working life, on several occasions experienced colleagues becoming ill, the cause being the psychosocial working environment. Private factors, for instance different kinds of life crisis like a divorce or uprooting, have contributed to the sick leave. The psychosocial working environment is complex.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms. The study includes 24.859 Swedish firms which are further analyzed with regards to their financial characteristics. These characteristics consist of short term debt, long term debt and total leverage. The study compares the relationship between these characteristics and six independent variables.The result shows that profitability is the greatest determinant for capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms with regards to total leverage. When profitability increases the total leverage of the firm decreases.

The purpose of this study was to find out how caregivers experienced their psychosocial work environment at three municipal homes for old people. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) was used in order to study different dimensions of the work environment, and questions about health, sickness presence and sick leave were included. The questionnaire was answered by 86 out of 112 participating caregivers (77%). The results showed that the caregivers experienced high demands at work. The degree of feedback and influence at work was low, but they reported that their work was highly meaningful and that they usually received social support at work.