Mental disorders and return-to work are not easily discussed between employees and supervisors. This article describes the structured development of a participatory workplace intervention for sick-listed employees with common mental disorders (CMDs), with a protocol for facilitating discussions on work-resumption between stakeholders. The principles of Intervention Mapping were applied to combine theory, evidence from scientific research and the involvement of stake-holders in the development, implementation and evaluation of a workplace intervention. Employees, supervisors and occupational health professionals were involved in focus group interviews to discuss the content and preconditions of the intervention. The development process is presented with a summary of the focus group discussions and a description of the developed intervention.
