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3
Sampling and description
3.1
The survey
In the spring of 2012, a nationwide survey among caseworkers in the sick-
leave process was conducted.
4
The caseworkers were anonymously asked
about their attitudes towards various aspects of the SI system and the sick-
leave process. Information about the caseworker’s age, education, and
tenure was also collected. In total, 1,048 out of almost 1,900 caseworkers
(≈56 %) answered all or some of the questions.
5
In this study, we focus on the impact of the caseworkers’ attitudes towards
existing rehabilitation programs and the current SI rules. The caseworkers´
attitudes towards rehabilitation programs were captured through questions
about the effectiveness of five different vocational rehabilitation programs.
The question was, “How efficient do you think the following rehabilitation
method is in getting the individual back to work?”. The rehabilitation
methods were: work testing, work training, assisted devices, rehabilitation
compensation for vocational training, and reassignment at the workplace.
The response scale was seventh-graded from “very low-efficient” to “very
high-efficient”. From the responses, a standardized index was created in
which a high value indicates a positive attitude towards these methods.
6
In the same way, the caseworkers’ attitudes towards the rules of the SI
system were measured through three questions about the legitimacy and
efficiency of the system. The questions were, “To what extent do you think
the SI-rules are legitimate?” “To what extent do you think the SI rules are
efficient in getting the individual back to work?” “To what extent do you
think the SI rules are legally fixed?” The response scale was tenth-graded
from “To a very little extent” to “To a very large extent.”A high index value
signals a positive attitude towards the SI system.
7
Tables 1 and 2 report caseworker characteristics and the distributions of
the standardized index values respectively. The vast majority (86%) of
the caseworkers are women and three out of four are at least 40 years
of age (Table 1). Sixty percent of the caseworkers have worked at the SIA
for more than 10 years and their average time in the current position is
2.7 years. Almost 80 percent of the caseworkers have a university degree
and the most common subjects are social science and social work. The
caseworkers are relatively positive about both the rehabilitation programs
and the SI rules (Table 2). Most positive is the attitude of caseworkers
towards the rehabilitation programs, where the average index value is
0.72 (median: 0.73). The index value of the attitude towards the SI rules
is 0.61 on average (median: 0.63).
4
The survey is described in detail in ISF (2013b).
5
In ISF (2013a), the difference between responders and non-responders was found to be small
in general. The responders were somewhat older and had somewhat more tenure than the non-
responders.
6
ISF (2013a) describes how the index was created.
7
ISF (2013a) describes how the index was created.