The complexity of handling these cases increases because the said institution is comprised of numerous faculties that are dispersed in various locations in one of Switzerland’s biggest cities. The size of the institution coupled with the number of employees to manage, add more complexity to the logistics of dealing with the various sickness absence cases. On top of all of that, you add an ongoing global pandemic and the topic of managing long-term sickness absences becomes an even more pressing matter.

Literature in the relevant fields was examined and discussed to research the subject. For empiricism, interviews were conducted with employees of the institution. These findings were then compared to the findings in the theoretical part. To further show the current process of managing long-term sickness absences, the process was illustrated.

In this thesis, the objectives were to examine the topic of workplace health management and, therein, to explore the management of long-term sick leave cases and the reintegration of employees. It was the goal to determine the definition of ‘long-term’ sickness absence and the causes behind these cases. The challenges in the processes of managing and reintegrating were addressed, and potential ways for optimization in the institution were addressed. This thesis covers the employee and employer perspective as well as an external party like the insurance company. Solutions to these objectives were found in the theoretical and empirical parts. For the findings in the empiricism, the institution was closely involved. Interviews with employees of the institution were of great assistance in gathering information about the management and reintegration processes implemented by the institution. The findings from theory and empiricism lead to suggestions for potential courses of action the employer can take to optimize the uncovered problems.