From the WHP annual calendar · April
BEM Process Review: Workplace Reintegration Management (German Social Code IX, Section 167)
Quarterly review of ongoing BEM (workplace reintegration) cases. Mandatory: a BEM offer when employees have been unable to work for more than 6 weeks within one year, continuously or repeatedly (Section 167(2) SGB IX, German law). Without a BEM offer, the employer bears an extended burden of presentation and proof in dismissal protection proceedings (Federal Labour Court, 20 Nov 2014 – 2 AZR 755/13).
Idea to get started
Pull the BEM list from the time-tracking/HR system: everyone who was unable to work for more than six weeks within one year, continuously or repeatedly (§167(2) SGB IX, German law; whether calendar or working days count has not been settled by the highest court – if in doubt, invite earlier). Send invitation letters (template: BAuA). Assign a BEM team: HR, occupational physician, works council – in each individual case only with the consent of the person concerned. Document the process.
Proven for this occasion
Welcome-Back Conversation After Illness: The Signal That Comes Before BEM
The welcome-back conversation after illness is a low-threshold WHP component in the area of healthy leadership – and an important early warning tool before BEM.
Did you know?
Among members of Germany's AOK health insurers, sick leave of more than six weeks made up only 3.4 percent of all cases in 2025. Yet it accounted for 40.4 percent of all days lost.
Source: AOK, Zahl des Monats Oktober 2026 (WIdO, Fehlzeiten-Report 2026)
- Cases longer than six weeks
- 3.4%
- Their share of all days lost
- 40.4%
More proven measures for this occasion
Other companies ran these measures for exactly this occasion — with photos, steps and impact.
The Structured 4-Step BEM Rejection Protocol under § 167 Para. 2 SGB IX (German law)
An employee declines BEM. Briefly, sometimes curtly, often without giving a reason. HR nods — and moves on. Three years later, in a wrongful-termination disput…
Matching the action area
More proven measures from this occasion's action areas.
The BEM Invitation: What It Needs to Contain to Hold Up
The invitation is the document that matters later. It shows that BEM was offered, and it often decides whether someone accepts: a letter that sounds like contr…
The First BEM Case: From the Six-Week Threshold to Closure
Payroll notices it: a colleague has been on sick leave for more than six weeks in the last twelve months. That means Workplace Reintegration Management (BEM) i…
Introducing Recovery Conversations: Talk Early, Before It Becomes a BEM Case
Between “back again” and “off sick for six weeks” lies a lot of time in which nobody asks how things are going. A recovery conversation fills this gap: short, …
BEM Conversation Guide: Conducting the First Meeting in Six Steps
The invitation has been accepted, the date is set. Now someone who was ill for weeks is sitting across from you — and you are supposed to have a conversation t…
Formulate WHP goals SMART and track them automatically
Many WHP programs do not fail due to lack of commitment, but due to lack of measurement. If you cannot prove at the end of the year whether the sickness rate h…
Visualizing WHP maturity: The radar chart as a management tool
The GKV Prevention Guideline (version from December 17, 2025) describes workplace health promotion (WHP) not as a single measure, but as a management task: nee…
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