Vocational rehabilitation services have been implemented in a number of countries to facilitate the return to work of sick and injured workers, yet little research has been undertaken to document competencies required to provide services globally. This study compared the job tasks, functions, and knowledge domains deemed important by Australian and German rehabilitation professionals working in vocational rehabilitation settings to identify common practice domains. An online survey comprising items from the Rehabilitation Skills Inventory–Amended and the International Survey of Disability Management was completed by 149 Australian and 217 German rehabilitation professionals. Items from each measure were submitted to factor analysis, using principal axis factoring as the extraction technique. Three common domains were identified: (a) vocational counseling, (b) workplace disability case management, and (c) workplace intervention and program management. Differences in skill and knowledge domains centered on the levels of specialization in vocational rehabilitation practices in each country. Ongoing transnational research is required to ensure that a “global curriculum” covers core competencies, while at the same time allowing for specialization at a local level.

Demographic changes are transforming Germany's working environment. A shrinking and aging workforce is having to cope with rising market requirements for skilled labour. As the risk of occupational disability rises with age, lawmakers have introduced a number of legislative changes to sustain workers' ability to work as long as possible. Another important step in this direction was the introduction of a training program to become a Certified Disability Management Professional (CDMP), based on the Canadian model and driven by the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV). International scientific research has long recognised the importance of professional counselling and support for successful vocational rehabilitation of sick and disabled people. In Germany, however, there has been a lack of studies investigating which competencies disability managers need for their work or whether their training is adequate. The present study fills this gap. 217 disability managers and other vocational rehabilitation professionals were asked about their tasks and the competencies required for their work. Two important areas of responsibility were identified: work with the client, on the one hand, and organisational and managerial tasks on the other. This represents a lower degree of specialisation than that found in related American or Australian studies. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed.

Established by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) in October 2007, the Scientific Expert Group RehaFutur had been commissioned to elaborate cornerstones for the medium- and long-term development of vocational rehabilitation of adults with disabilities (re-integration). Initial questions inter alia were as follows: Which function should vocational rehabilitation have in a service- and knowledge-oriented working world that will increasingly be affected by demographic change? How can disabled persons' right to occupational participation by way of vocational rehabilitation, a right stipulated both under the German constitution and in German law, be realized as needed also in the future? Various fields of action have been derived on the basis, for one, of an investigation of the factors, social law, social and education policy as well as European, influencing vocational rehabilitation and, for the other, of an evaluation of current labour market and demographic developments. Dealt with in the fields of action outlined are the aspects: equitable opportunities of access, developmental and needs orientation, closeness to the real occupational and working world, as well as the role of self-determination and self-responsibility. The fields of action are to be understood as framework concept for shaping a cross-actor innovation process. Sustainable vocational rehabilitation is characterized in particular by the fact that it is specifically targeted at promoting disabled persons' self-determination and self-responsibility actively using these in the process and that it strengthens an independent lifestyle, ensures social participation by inclusive structures; also, it facilitates continued participation in working life by ongoing education involving holistic development of professional and personal competencies oriented towards the individual's resources and potentials, safeguarding it by systematic networking with companies. The concept presented for vocational rehabilitation of adults with disabilities encompasses a change of paradigms which service carriers and providers will have to face jointly and including the service users, the rehabilitants.

Zusammenfassung Für Menschen mit dauerhaften gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen ist die Abstimmung zwischen beruflicher Tätigkeit und individuellen Voraussetzungen besonders bedeutsam, um dauerhaft gesund und arbeitsfähig zu bleiben. Der Gesetzgeber sieht dafür zahlreiche Unterstützungsmöglichkeiten vor, deren Inanspruchnahme Betroffene jedoch vor ein Etikettierungs-Ressourcen-Dilemma mit Angst vor Stigmatisierung stellen kann. Bei der Lösung dieses Dilemmas spielt die Unternehmenskultur eine zentrale Rolle.

Eine inklusive Arbeitswelt ist eine bedeutende Grundlage für eine selbstbestimmte und gleichberechtigte Teilhabe von Menschen mit Behinderungen und gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen am Leben in der Gesellschaft. Durch die gesetzliche Verankerung und praktische Implementation der Schwerbehindertenvertretung (SBV) als betriebliche Interessenvertretung von Menschen mit Behinderung kann betriebliche Inklusion gestaltet werden. Auf Grundlage einer Befragung von 1552 Vertrauenspersonen der schwerbehinderten und gleichgestellten Beschäftigten in deutschen Betrieben und Dienststellen zeigt dieser Beitrag, dass ihre Arbeit durch eine große Nähe zu ihrer Zielgruppe gekennzeichnet ist und sie eine wichtige Repräsentanz- und Unterstützungsfunktion ausüben. Verdeutlicht wird auch, dass das Handeln und der Handlungsspielraum der SBV durch die Erwartungen und Interessen verschiedener Akteur*innen – u. a. jener der schwerbehinderten Kolleg*innen, der Unternehmensleitung und des Betriebs-/Personalrats – geprägt sind. Vor diesem Hintergrund ergeben sich Rollenkonflikte, die es durch gezielte Weiterbildungen zu bearbeiten gilt.