11.09.2019 Christin Müller 8097

Linde AG: The BEM process in a large corporation

What is company integration management, or BEM for short?

Company integration management is not a nice-to-have benefit. It is enshrined in SGB IX §167 and is therefore mandatory for all employers.

The BEM is an independent and standardized procedure and comprises all activities and services that serve to reintegrate employees after a long period of incapacity for work. This may be a permanent incapacity for work or repeated periods of incapacity for work. The BEM also serves to prevent incapacity for work.

The basic idea is to take action as early as possible with the aim of

• overcome an inability to work
• to prevent renewed incapacity to work
• maintain employment and avoid possible occupational disability.

How does BEM work in practice?

Linde AG, the world's leading industrial gas manufacturer, is supported in its company integration management by pme Familienservice .

Andrea Ries, Chairwoman of the Works Council, gives us an insight into the cooperation with pme Familienservice in an interview.

Ms. Ries, why did you decide to have the BEM managed by the pme Familienservice ? What advantages do you see in this?

Andrea Ries: At Linde, we have a central HR department based in Pullach and the surrounding area. As we have many locations of different sizes in our company in Germany, it is organizationally difficult to conduct BEM case discussions with HR officers.

In order to do justice to all employees and to be able to hold the discussions on site promptly, the pme Familienservice with its nationwide case managers provides a great deal of support here.

In addition, all case managers at pme Familienservice are trained and certified in the area of BEM. Another plus point is that pme is perceived as neutral by employees and is well received.

How many BEM cases are there in your company per year? Do you have the feeling that the offer is well received?

As in other large companies, we have monthly new BEM beneficiaries who have reached 42 days of incapacity for work in the last twelve months. All BEM beneficiaries then receive an invitation to a BEM meeting.
The offer is well received and the acceptance rate has increased following the introduction of external case management by the pme Familienservice .

What type of failures occur most frequently in your company?

Here too, Linde is no different from other large corporations. Topics such as ergonomics come up relatively frequently.

How does a placement process for BEM beneficiaries usually work?

All new BEM beneficiaries who join the scheme each month receive an invitation to an interview from the BEM coordinator. If the employee decides spontaneously or after an information meeting to participate in BEM, the pme Familienservice receives an order via a secure data exchange to contact the employee to schedule a BEM meeting.

In addition, the pme Familienservice invites all members of the BEM team that the employee can appoint to this meeting. The meeting usually takes place at the employee's location.

Do you think that the topic of BEM is currently very important and will become increasingly important in the future?

Healthy employees in a healthy company are becoming increasingly important. Demographic change is presenting both employees and companies with new challenges. It is important to counteract this with individually designed workplace adaptations and measures and to support employees in meeting the challenges of the new world of work.

For Linde, this means not only retaining the know-how of its employees, but also fulfilling its social responsibility towards them and being perceived as such. BEM will therefore play an increasingly important role in the future.

Thank you very much for the interview!

Would you like advice on BEM?

Are you interested in having pme Familienservice support your company integration management? The consultants at pme Familienservice will be happy to answer any questions you may have about company integration management:

E-mail: bem@familienservice.de.