BackgroundLimited research and studies prove the usefulness of case management for persons with disabilities, which helps disabled employees recover their dignity through medical vocational, and psychological rehabilitation in underdeveloped countries’ Return To Work (RTW) programs.MethodsThis qualitative case study design involved semi structured interviews with case managers as the primary data source, supplemented by secondary data from BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. Data analysis utilized QDA Miner Lite and Python with ArcGIS integration for descriptive visualization.ResultsThe RTW program of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan has already adopted ILO’s fundamental suggestion, which creates two central themes: internal aspects that are essential to the RTW framework and external variables that impact RTW practice. The key themes produce six main pieces to discuss further: personal skill, personal literacy, providers, guidelines, authorities, and stakeholder support.ConclusionReturn to Work Program benefits companies, and the implementation of a career development service or a partnership with non-governmental organizations guarantees that disabled employees who cannot return to work with their former employers are still in the global economy.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-15930-2.