Six (6) Mistakes Employers Make In Implementing Their Workers Compensation Disability Management Program

 

Return to work programs, also called temporary duty, are an integral part of workers compensation disability management. Even though employers may have, on paper, a temporary duty program, they often have difficulties implementing it. The bottom line results are that employee stays off work longer than necessary and workers compensation costs soar. While I am retained to analyze why, and help correct the problem, here are the six most common mistakes I find:

  • Failure to quickly identify potential accommodation opportunities based upon work capacity. It all starts with prompt injury response and getting within 48-hours a written evaluation of work capacity from the treating physician. Without this report all else fails. Once the work capacity report is received employers also take too long in identifying temporary duty accommodations. Time is money. The longer it takes the longer the employee stays off work, loses the “working habit,” and falls within the orbit of the healthcare system.

  • Failure to get written medical approval of temporary jobs/tasks to be offered to the injured employee. This one is huge. It is not enough to find the temporary duty tasks. You absolutely must get written approval from the treating physician BEFORE the job is offered. Otherwise is not an ADA-compliant accommodation. Several things may happen as a result and all of them are bad. First, the employer loses legal leverage to get the employee back to work. Second, if the injured employee doctor shops they have the legal leverage. Third, if the injured employee has an attorney they definitely have the leverage. Finally, the injured employee may be offered a job that is not right for their situation and aggravates the injury.

  • Failure to make the return to work offer in writing. It is not enough to call the employee up and offer the accommodation verbally. It must be a formal written offer. I also find that the employer has not kept this written record in the claim file. This significantly weakens their position before the state workers compensation commission. Again the result is the injured employee stays off work and costs soar.

  • Failure to get a written medical release from the treating physician. Once the temporary duty offer has been accepted I find that employers do not get a written release from the treating physician. This also is a critical piece of documentation needed to remain ADA-compliant and strengthen the employer position before the state workers compensation commission.

  • Failure to up-date the Leave of Absence Policy to include rejected return to work offers. Far too often I find employers who fight the temporary duty problems in the context of workers compensation law. By integrating the temporary duty policy in with a strong Leave of Absence Policy the employer can now take employment related action with consistent with company HR policy. Many employers who use this technique can not only discontinue workers compensation disability benefit where permitted by state law. They can now take other punitive measures consistent with overall company policy.

  • Failure to integrate RTW with FMLA, ADA, and HIPPA. Navigating through the legal minefield created by workers compensation law, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the American with Disabilities Act (AD), and the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act (HIPPA) is extremely complex. However, if implemented in a consistent manner in full compliance with these laws the employer actually will find that their legal position is greatly enhanced.

CompEraser provides a number of additional on-line resources to help your organization formalize, implement and monitor its Temporary Duty Program in full compliance with state and federal laws. All of these common mistakes are address in an easy to use, turnkey workers compensation disability management program. Also the program is constantly benchmarked and monitored to give you immediate insight into how to take corrective action and reduce both insured and indirect workers compensation costs. Please visit our website at www.CompEraser.com.