The Five (5) Point Gut Check To Measure The Effectiveness Of Your Workers Compensation Disability Management Program

There is definitive proof that Temporary Duty Programs work successfully throughout private industry in reducing the cost associated with on-the-job disability injuries. Many employers with Temporary Duty Programs are reducing lost workdays while helping the injured employee recover both physically and emotionally from a work-related injury. Studies have shown that:

• The longer an employee is off work, the more difficult it will be to assist that employee to return to work;
• The probability that the employee will return to work begins to drop dramatically after thirty days of disability. Therefore, time is critical, and it is essential to expedite the return-to-work process in any way possible;
• After an employee has been out of work for one year there is only 25% chance that the injured worker will return to work at all;
• It only stands to reason that if Temporary Duty Programs were further modified and improved, where permissible by law, the positive impact would be even greater.

Here is a fast, down and dirty gut check so see how you measure up against “best practices:”

First, do you have a written Temporary Duty Policy that has been communicated to all employees? The difficulty in creating a Temporary Duty Policy lies in the inherent conflict between applicable laws and regulations.  Most short-term and long-term disability programs and workers compensation laws terminate benefits when an employee is able to return to some form of temporary duty. A decision to accept temporary duty may or may not affect the employee’s wages, depending on the law involved. In preparation for the development of its Temporary Duty Policy the organization should carefully review its employee handbook, disability policy, absentee policy, existing temporary duty policy, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable) and any other policies and procedures that may come into play.

Second, do you have procedures for keeping in routine contact with the injured employee while he or she is off work? The employee should be required to keep in contact with the Claim Coordinator at least on a weekly basis and whenever they visit their treating physician. The organization has a right to know how the injured employee’s treatment and recovery is progressing. In addition to the periodic contact that the Claim Coordinator will inevitably have with the injured employee it is recommended that the Supervisor be responsible for contacting the employee weekly.

Third, do you maintain an inventory of temporary duty jobs, along with a clear description of physical requirements of each? It is critical that you prepare for eventual disability injuries so that ADA-compliant, medically approved temporary duty positions can be offered to the injured employee as soon as possible. Otherwise the organization will lose control of the claim management process, driving up workers compensation costs.

Fourth, do you obtain a medical evaluation from the physician within 48-hours of the injury identifying work capacity limitations? The occupational clinic and treating physician should be held accountable to return within 48-hours their medical evaluation of the injured employee’s condition and work capacity. Their job is to provide prompt, quality medical treatment, not to determine compensability. Unless monitored the injured employee may be sent home to recuperate rather than being offered an ADA-compliant, medically approved temporary duty position. As a result the organization loses control of the claim process and potentially the productive capacity of the injured employee.

Fifth, do you implement your Temporary Duty Program in compliance with ADA, COBRA, and FMLA? Workers compensation claim management is greatly complicated by these employment laws. Navigating through them incorrectly can not only impede the claim management process. It may also create legal liability exposure to both the organization and to the individuals involved in the process.

Now you can benchmark your response to these questions, plus many others, using CompEraser’s exclusive, on-line safety benchmark survey. You can select any or all of 12 different categories. A summary report is provided immediately on-line. Visit our website at www.CompEraser.com.

CompEraser also includes valuable resources to help you formalize your safety team, implement effective injury prevention strategies, safety training toolkits, prompt injury response and workers compensation disability management resources, plus more. These resources are available 24/7 and used irrespective of which workers compensation carrier you select. Its patent-pending technology also provides unique financial reports for monitoring the effectiveness of your safety and health program on an on-going basis. For more information visit our website at www.CompEraser.com.