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Once an injured worker recovers from their previous injuries, it is very important that you integrate them back to the workplace. A return to work program will enable you to do just that and if you don’t already have one, below are some of the advantages of having one.
Advantages of a Return to Work Program
You get to retain experienced workers
If an injury makes you stay at home for an extended period of time, you might become dispirited and eventually leave the company. However, if your employer takes the initiative to return you to the workplace as soon as you have recovered from your injuries, you will feel much more valued and you might not consider switching jobs.
You get to reduce your turnover
The cost of training and hiring new employees can be very high when compared to coming up with a return to work program and retaining your employees.
You Improve Employee Relations
You will demonstrate that you care for the welfare of your employees by running a return to work program.
Better productivity
Employees who return to the workplace after recovering from an injury than they would have been working from home.
You can reduce your workers compensation costs if an injured employee is able to work part time. This is because they will collect fewer disability benefits.
How a Return to Work Program Benefits Employees
A return to work program not only benefits employers but it also benefits employees. Below are some of the benefits for employees:
Increased motivation
Employees who return to work as soon as they are medically able to regain a sense of purpose and retain their social connections at the workplace.
Financial security
Through a return to work program, an employee can retain their position at the company, ensuring they remain financially stable.
Retention of Skills
Employees who stay at home will experience a deterioration in their skills but a return to work program will ensure they are retained.
Your Return to Work Program Must Comply with Federal and State Laws
These include workers compensation statutes, OSHA Standards and ADA. ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act and its relevant to your return to work program because if one of your workers is injured while on the job, they may qualify as disabled. According to ADA, a person is considered disabled if they have a mental or physical impairment that limits important activities in their life. An example of a major activity includes walking.
The ADA prevents employers from discriminating against workers with abilities who can perform their duties at work without or with accomodation.
For instance, an employee at an assembly line may not be able to walk but they can work while seated. In such a situation, the employer is required to provide reasonable accommodation for your wheelchair to allow you to perform your duties at work.
Returning Your Employees to Work
In order for your return to work program to be effective, you need to have a written plan detailing the procedure for dealing with workplacce injuries. Below are some of the most common and recomended procedures:
Get in touch with the worker
Contact your employee directly once you are aware of an injury. Give them a step by step guide about how to go about requesting for workers compensation and help them fill out the claim forms.
Assure your employee that they don’t have to return to work until they are medically able to and inform them about the return to work program. Regularly check up on them as they recuperate from home.
Identify necessary job functions
At the very least, there are some necessary job functions your employee should be able to perform when they get back to work. For instance, an employee working as a chauffeur must be able to drive. Being capable of cleaning the car at the end of the day is an added advantage but it is not an essential job function. You should be able to agree with your employee on the necessary job functions and eliminate the unnecessary ones that they cannot perform because of their injuries.
Determine Restrictions and Capabilities
Obtain a written report from your employee’s treating doctor to determine which activities have to restricted once they get back to work.
Evaluate Accommodation
Review accomodation options together with your employee. Accomodation includes working pat time from home, a standing or a sitting station, a parrt time schedule, an ergonomic chair, etc.
Select a Reasonable Accommodation
Request your employee to return to their regular job with reasonable accomodation. If this is not possible, you can offer them another position or a temporary job.
Implementation and Monitoring
Once your employee gets back to work, regularly interact with them to find out how they are fairing. Adjusting their accomodation accordingly if need be.
Finalize Your Policy
Once you’ve outlined and established all the mentioned procedures, you will need your staff members to carry them out. Consider assigning the tasks to different staff members. For instance, your human resource manager can help your employee fill out the workers compensation claim form.
All the tasks that you assign should have written instructions to ensure they are executed properly. Identify all essential tasks of all the jobs at your company. These are duties that your employee has to be able to perform and if they cannot perform them they cannot go back to that job. If they cannot go back to their old job, then you can assign them a new job.
Training and Monitoring
You will need to ensure that everyone, including the workers compensation insurer are fulfilling their responsibilities. Your supervisory staff should be properly trained on how to handle a disabled employee or one that requires an accommodation.
All employees in your company should know about the return to work program and its importance.
Consult a Workers Compensation Lawyer in Fall Mouth
Have you been injured at work in Fall River, MA and you want to find out what your rights are? Contact any one of our workers compensation lawyer at Kevin P Landry Law Offices and let us evaluate your case free of charge.
