ABSTRACT
The concept of work capacity is linked to medical conditions and their effect on the individual’s capacity to perform work, in the first instance the worker’s current job. A doctor’s affidavit provides the major evidence of the medical condition. Work injury provided 100 per cent compensation from the 90th day. Disability replaced 65 per cent of income loss, but 100 percent in the case of work injury. Work injury costs increased by about fourfold between 1980 and 1990. This was the direct result of new legislation introduced in 1977. Prior to 1977 compensation for work injury or sickness required that it be proven that the cause be work related. Sickness and disability in Sweden have been seen predominantly as depicting the outcome of poor health. The remedy has been sought in better work environments and rehabilitation. Work capacity must be seen as a broader concept than capacity to work in a given job with a given employer.
