Looking for a way to keep your workers’ compensation costs in check? What about getting injured employees healed and back as quickly as possible? What if all of these goals could be met with a return-to-work program? Would you be interested?
What is a return-to-work program?
“A return to work program keeps the injured worker in gainful, productive and rewarding employment within their work restrictions as identified by a treating physician.” Don Dressler told us in a recent CER webinar. In short, it’s a program designed to get an injured employee back to work as quickly as possible, which is beneficial to both the employer and the employee.
To make a return-to-work program successful:
- Have a clear company policy that outlines when you expect employees to return to work
- Ensure there is one individual with authority and responsibility to oversee the program
- Ensure employees are informed of the policy at inception and at the time of injury – they need to know the expectations (no ambiguity)
- Have clear communications with the medical providers, and follow up to obtain needed information
Return-to-work: How does it work in practical terms?
Here’s some guidance for how it works in practice. First, when the injury occurs:
- Take the injured worker to your medical provider or network doctor, at once.
- Talk to the worker on the way. Ask what happened and whether it has happened before.
- Before the worker sees the doctor, brief the doctor on the situation and on any suspicions so that they can give the best support. “You can then share this with the doctor, so that the doctor is aware to look into any suspicious claims, [and] is aware to give the best helpful support and treatment to a worker if this is a recurring problem. It makes the doctor’s work easier because the doctor may not have done as thorough a medical history as one would like. You’re just being helpful to make sure the worker gets the best possible medical care and the appropriate medical care.” Dressler pointed out.
- After the exam, before you leave, talk to the doctor, ask about work restrictions, needed medical treatment, and the course of recovery.
- Take the injured worker home, or to their transportation. Ask if they need anything. Make sure the worker knows you are on his side and care for him. “If the worker feels he’s abandoned and nobody cares about him, he’s going to be injured longer, recover slower, and [be] much more likely to hire a lawyer and make things difficult for everybody.” Dressler warned.
After the injury, here are some suggestions:
- Unless they are hospitalized, your policy can have them come to work the following day.
- Someone at the company calls them that night, to ask if they are ok.
- Someone greets them at work the next day, and asks how they are.
Next, if a follow up medical exam is needed, give them a medical report to bring back. This aspect is key: the employee needs to be prompted to follow through on time. Demand that they meet their obligations. Send them back to the doctor until you get it.
By regularly contacting the injured worker about how they are doing, asking about any problems with the doctor or anything else, you will follow up until the claim is closed. In fact, if you have issues, you can make a rule that completing these follow-up steps are required, and the employee can be disciplined if they are not done; it is within the confines of the workers’ compensation regulations.
By taking proactive steps and ensuring everyone is on the same page, you’ll get your employee back to work faster.
The above information is excerpted from the webinar “Return to Work: Building an Effective Program That Gets Injured Employees Back to Work Quickly.” To register for a future webinar, visit CER webinars.
Don Dressler of Irvine-based Don Dressler Consulting has been working with safety recordkeeping for over 15 years as the head of an agricultural trade association’s safety and loss control staff and since 2003 as a safety and human resources consultant and attorney. Dressler focuses on safety, employment and human resources issues, accident investigations, OSHA compliance and workers’ compensation.