Problem statement. From the ergonomics of activity, the central concept is the work activity, where there is a difference between the prescribed work and the real work. In this case, the prescription is by the law and the real is how the reality of the activity of the process of labor reintegration occurs.
The aim of this article is to present a reading of the phenomenon of the process of labor reintegration of people who have experienced long-term disability (common and work). Method: A qualitative study was carried out using the biographical method and the discursive interview technique with eleven participants. Narrative line was used analysis technique.
Results: Five ways of developing work reintegration were identified, which allowed us to understand that the phenomenon studied is complex due to its multidimensional and multitemporal nature; there are different processes depending on the experiences of those who live it, the contexts and organisations in which they develop; there is no single way of understanding it and intervening in it.
Discussion: This process is more than an administrative procedure that begins with the end of the period of incapacity for work. Instead, it begins from the moment of the occurrence of the event which of the event that alters the worker's state of health.
Conclusion: The phenomenon needs to be understood from a psychosocial and ergonomic point of view, going beyond the normative reading of health and safety at work. It must move from a model based on insurability to one based on the health of workers.
