Please let us know if you have feedbackNASHVILLE, Tenn. — For return-to-work programs to be successful for employers and employees, they need to be “early, coordinated and sustained,” according to Julie Hocker, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy. “That drop off is rarely because the worker lacks the will to heal or the desire to work,” Hocker said. Staying attached to work isn't separate from healing; it's part of the healing process itself,” Hocker said. Employers benefit, too, from helping employees get back to work through gains in retention, morale and cost savings, she said. That’s down seven percentage points from two years before, a drop Bass characterized as “concerning.”