Return-to-work guide
Returning to work after a psychological injury
A psychological injury changes what a safe, workable return looks like, and often the work itself is part of what the plan has to address. Nexus Rehab coordinates the return-to-work side of the claim, working to your treating doctor's certificate of capacity. Your own treating doctor and treating practitioners direct your care; we organise the workplace part around it.
How the return-to-work plan takes shape
The plan starts with the certificate of capacity your nominated treating doctor issues. That document sets what you are cleared to do for now, and the return is planned within those limits. From the referral, Nexus connects the people who have a part to play — you, your employer, the insurer and your healthcare team — and works out a return that fits your current capacity. The scheme is built on recovery at work: staying connected to a workplace, on the right terms, is treated as part of recovery rather than something that waits until the end of it. For a psychological injury those terms matter, so the plan is agreed rather than assumed, and reviewed as your certificate of capacity is updated.
Suitable duties and a graduated return
With a psychological injury, suitable duties are often about hours, pace, workload and environment rather than a physical limit. A graduated return usually builds up hours or exposure in stages, each stage matched to what your certificate of capacity allows. If a particular task, team, location or reporting line is part of the picture, the plan can stage how and when you re-engage with it, or adjust it. A change of duties, a change of team, a different reporting line or a quieter start can all sit inside a suitable-duties plan. Nexus arranges these with your employer within the limits your doctor sets, and never beyond them.
Who is involved, and keeping it workable
Four parties usually have a role: you, your employer, the insurer and your healthcare team. The employer's job is to support a return on the agreed terms; the insurer funds approved services; your doctor directs the medical side and updates your capacity. A medical case conference can bring everyone onto one plan so decisions aren't made in pieces. You control what is shared about the reason for your claim — Nexus handles the coordination with your employer and insurer so you are not the one relaying messages back and forth. That coordination gives you a plan people can actually follow, kept current as things change.
This is general information about returning to work, not medical advice. Your treating doctor directs your medical care — Nexus Rehab coordinates the return-to-work side and works to their certificate of capacity.