Occupational therapy workplace assessments
Occupational therapy workplace assessments for employers
When the question is what someone can actually manage at work, an occupational therapist is usually the right clinician. Remote assessments across the UK, at a fixed price per case, with no contract.
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What is an occupational therapy workplace assessment?
An occupational therapist looks at two things and the gap between them: what the job demands, and what the person can currently do. The assessment describes that gap in practical terms, then sets out what would close it.
It is not a diagnosis and it is not a medical certificate. An OT works in function and activity: tasks, hours, pacing, environment, and the specific things that make a role harder than it needs to be. That is their training, and it is why their reports tend to arrive as plans rather than opinions.
When an occupational therapist is the right choice
An occupational therapy assessment suits the situations where the difficulty is not whether someone is ill, but what they can manage at work and what would help. That covers most of the cases employers bring to Return Well.
This often looks like:
- An employee is struggling with the demands of the role rather than unable to work at all
- Someone is coming back after a long absence and the return needs structuring
- You need to know which adjustments would genuinely help, and which would not
- A previous return did not hold and nobody is sure why
- Fatigue, pain or concentration is affecting how the work gets done
- You want a plan a manager can follow rather than a clinical opinion to interpret
How Return Well helps
Independent clinical guidance you can act on
Function, not diagnosis
What the employee can manage now, set against what the job actually demands.
A clinician chosen for the case
We select the clinician on what the case needs, rather than whoever happens to be free.
Remote, UK-wide
Assessments are by video or phone, so where your employee lives makes no difference.
HCPC registered
Registration checked on the public register, and indemnity insurance checked, before a first case.
When a doctor or a nurse is the better choice
An OT is not always the right answer. If you need a medical opinion on fitness for a safety-critical role, statutory health surveillance, or a certificate a regulator will want to see, a doctor-led occupational health service is the right call. Where the question is chiefly about a mental health condition and its management, a mental health nurse or a CBT psychotherapist may fit better.
Return Well selects the clinician for each case, so this is not a judgement you have to make. Tell us what is happening when you submit the case, and we will tell you who will carry out the assessment.
Who carries out the assessment
Occupational therapists are the largest group in the Return Well network. Every clinician is independent, and registered with the relevant UK statutory regulator, such as the HCPC or NMC, or an accredited register such as the BABCP.
- Registration checked on the public register before a first case
- Professional indemnity insurance checked
- Every report checked by Return Well before it is released
- Your employee reviews the report and can ask for factual corrections before it reaches you
What you actually receive
- A functional summary: what the employee can manage now, and what they cannot
- The demands of the role, set against that
- Specific adjustments, with timescales and what each one is for
- A phased return or a stay-at-work plan, where one is needed
- Guidance for the line manager
- A review point
The report is about work. Personal clinical detail shared in confidence stays out of it.
Remote, and what that does and does not cover
Assessments are carried out by video or phone, anywhere in the UK. For functional, work-focused questions this works well: the conversation is about the job, the tasks and the shape of the day, and people are often more candid from home than in a clinic.
It does not include an on-site inspection. If you need someone to measure a workstation in person, assess a physical environment or carry out a DSE survey, a local occupational therapist or an ergonomist is the right choice, and we will say so rather than sell you an assessment that cannot answer your question.
What it costs
One fixed price per case, set by the situation. No VAT is charged: the price shown is the total price.
- Workplace Wellbeing Assessment, £425. For an employee who is still at work but struggling.
- Return-to-Work Assessment, £495. For someone coming back after absence.
- Complex Workplace Assessment, £695. For long or repeated absence, several conditions at once, or a return that has already failed.
We grade the case when you submit it, so you see the price before you pay.
Example
Back at work, but not coping with the volume
A team leader returned after surgery and was managing the hours but not the workload: standing tasks, frequent lifting, and a full shift with no recovery built into it. The occupational therapist set out which tasks to redistribute for six weeks, how to sequence the rest of the day, and what to review at the end of it. The line manager had a plan to run rather than a judgement call to make.
Illustrative example: every assessment is tailored to the individual case.
FAQ
Common questions
What does an occupational therapist actually do in a workplace assessment?
They look at the job and the person together: the tasks, the hours, the environment and what the employee can currently manage, then set out what would close the gap. The output is practical rather than diagnostic.
How is this different from an occupational health referral?
The clinician is chosen for the case rather than assigned from a rota, the output is a functional plan rather than a medical opinion to interpret, and your employee has seen and agreed the report before it reaches you.
Are your occupational therapists registered?
Yes, with the Health and Care Professions Council. We check the public register, and their indemnity insurance, before a clinician's first case.
Can we ask for an occupational therapist specifically?
Return Well selects the clinician for each case, based on what the case needs and on the clinician's registration, background and experience. Tell us what is happening when you submit, and we will tell you who will be carrying out the assessment.
Is the assessment remote?
Yes, by video or phone, anywhere in the UK. It does not include an on-site workstation or DSE inspection.
How quickly can it happen?
The assessment usually within 5 working days of submission, and the report is usually within 5 working days of the assessment, once we have checked it and your employee has reviewed it.
How much does it cost?
£425, £495 or £695 depending on the situation, with no VAT to add. We grade the case when you submit it, so you see the price first.
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Related: Pricing · How it works · Return to work assessments · What happens in an OT assessment