Early Return to Work
a Proven Winner

The Early Return to Work program is very efficient and effective producing results that can be seen within the first few months of coverage.  If properly formulated and executed, this tool provides the means to get the injured employee back to work sooner to assume job responsibilities.  The result can be a reduction in medical and indemnity losses.

As the employer your responsibility is to have in place programs to reduce occupational injuries to your workforce.  By working with our Loss Control department and your insurance broker, action plans can be developed.  We are obligated to provide lost wage and medical benefits to compensate workers who sustain injury arising out of and in the course of employment.  It has been shown that the longer someone stays off work, the more difficult it is to return to work.  Early Return to Work will produce the following results:

• Speed physical recovery through work hardening.
• Help ease the psychological fears of income replacement and the healing process.
• Improve or maintain Human Resource relations.
• Assist you in manpower planning and demonstrate to other employees the expectation of prompt RTW.
• Save you money as there is a direct correlation between Workers' Compensation losses and premium costs.
   
  

This program can be broken into two phases: Pre-injury and Post-injury.  Both phases must be addressed by the management team and employees.  Success will depend on the efforts and communications of the customer, GNY service team members, and medical providers.  GNY’s role in this process is to assist the customer in reviewing, analyzing and preparing them to return injured workers back to their assigned pre-injury jobs, if possible, and keep their costs to a minimum while maintaining a satisfactory level of care.
 

The pre-injury phase consists of the following elements:

• Commitment of employees
• Development of baseline measurements
• Designation of medical providers, where allowed by law
• Development of modified job duties
• Development of procedures

Management Commitment and Employee Support
All levels of management must get actively involved.  The team approach can involve the injured worker's supervisor, the GNY claim adjuster, and the medical provider.  In order to successfully formulate an Early Return To Work program, the Workers' Compensation benefits and the recovery process must be consistently communicated and reinforced.  This includes explaining the purpose of the program and that each injured worker will be treated with respect and dignity.
 

Pre-injury Phase (cont.)

Evaluate Your Current Situation
Relevant measurements should be taken prior to the implementation of the program.  Several examples of these measurements include the number of lost time injuries, number of days lost to work-related injuries, average days lost, or cost of injury.  This data can be obtained from your OSHA 300 log, insurance company loss runs, or payroll records.  You should analyze the data relevant to your organization and operation.  Benefits include bolstering employee morale, improving production, efficiency, and labor relations.

Designate Medical Providers
"What do you need in order to get the injured employee the necessary care required?" Together, you and the team should address the type of medical care that can occur, and if specialists will be required.  Be cognizant of the location of the office or clinic with respect to your location.  In addition, review the applicable state laws and the provider's credentials, availability, and hours of operation.  Other considerations include the medical provider's experience with Workers' Compensation cases, fee structures, and the employee's opinion of the provider.

After a provider has been selected, the next step is for you to meet with the provider to review job descriptions and procedures.  The medical provider should become familiar with your operations and understand your expectations.

Develop Modified Job Duties
Your management team, supervisors, union and safety committees must be enlisted to conduct a thorough job analysis.  The GNY team can help you with this task. First, identify all mental and physical capabilities required to complete each job.  Each job should be broken down into a series of task elements.  By observing each job while in operation, you can determine the essential functions to obtain a clearer understanding of the position requirements.  This analysis could improve efficiency, build better relations with your workforce, and provide data for new hire requirements.  In addition, you identify previously unrecognized hazards.  Ask your GNY Loss Control Consultant for the Employee Selection and Placement booklet to review the job function and job description worksheets.

Once you have identified the job requirements, you can develop the modified job duties.  Identify those jobs eligible for modification and incorporate several tasks that could be assigned to this modified job description. 

Post-Injury Phase

 The key elements of Post Injury Management are:

• Prompt reporting, (with complete accident and injury details)
• Ongoing communications with injured worker, provider and GNY
• Providing Early Return to Work Opportunities
   

Immediately report all Workers' Compensation injuries to our 24 hour toll free reporting center 1-866-290-6833.  The sooner GNY is notified, the sooner we can best manage your claim costs.  Our claim adjuster strives to contact the injured worker, employer, and medical provider within 24 hours of reporting.

Prompt response to accidents has many benefits:

• Prompt investigation of injury details and decision on compensability
• Prompt determination of appropriate medical care
• Prompt explanation of benefits to the worker, reduced litigation.
• Communication of return to work policies to the medical provider
• Establishment of return to work dates

When it has been determined that an injured worker will be seen for medical treatment, prior planning makes a difference.  Ideally, the injured worker's supervisor accompanies him/her to the designated medical provider.  The prior planning allows the medical provider to have a working knowledge of your company's position on operations, job descriptions, and available modified job assignments.  The injured worker should also know the company's policy on early return to work, the name of medical provider, and the availability of modified job assignments.

In most cases, the injured worker will be able to immediately return to work.  If there are medical restrictions, they should be followed precisely, even if the injured worker wants to work at the pre-injury level.  Additional injury is never worth the temporary gain in productivity.

When the injured worker is not able to immediately return to work, the number one priority is to obtain a return to work date in writing from the physician. 
 

Ongoing Communications
You should also have procedures established to communicate regularly with the injured worker. Regular contact with the injured worker shows concern about his/her welfare, invites questions about benefits, maintains trust and keeps communication open.  Co-workers should also be encouraged to periodically contact the injured worker. 

Examples of how you can maintain contact with the injured worker include:

• Phone call from the employee's supervisor in the first 24-hours of injury and at least weekly thereafter.
• Get well cards or personal visits from top management, the supervisor, or co-workers
• Temporary disability checks could be picked up by the injured worker at the work site (restrictions may apply in some states) Don't let the injured worker "disappear" when they become injured.  Contact with the injured worker is a critical part of the Early Return to Work process.
   
  

Providing Early Return to Work Opportunuities
The role of the employer is to supply transitional duty to the employee in line with the advise of the treating medical practitioner.   Transitional duty must be in compliance with union work rules as well as federal and local statutes for FMLA and ADA.  The key factors in Return to Work Opportunities are:

• Modification of the normal job responsibilities.
• Periodic adjustments as the physical capabilities increase or decrease
• Alternative work to accommodate physical restrictions
• Create a positive work environment
• Do not give “make work”; the job should have some business purpose and dignity.
• Ideally the job should provide full pre-injury wages so no additional indemnity benefits are due.
• Review the job assignment after every doctors visit
• The assignment should not be open ended, there should be a target date for full duty  work in the future.
• The employer must document all conversations they have with the injured employee during this period as well as conversations with the medical providers.
   

• The injured worker must promptly report all work related accident and injuries.
• The injured worker must cooperate with the employer and insurance company in the investigation of the accident.
• The injured worker must provide complete details regarding their medical treatment for the claimed injury and disability.
• Failure to cooperate may delay or jeopardize the injured worker’s right to Workers’ Compensation benefits.
   
  

GNY’s Worker’s Compensation Claim professionals play a key role in returning injured workers back to the workplace.  When an injury occurs, here are some of the ways we can help:

• Establish contact with the injured worker, the employer and the medical provider
• Help explain benefits and procedures
• Expedite medical treatments and appointments
• Assist in accident investigation
• Assign a Rehabilitation Nurse in serious cases
• Review treatment protocol and costs
• Coordination with employer and provider to create  early return to work opportunities.
• Communicate return to work opportunities to the injured worker
• Follow-up with the employer after RTW.
• Timely and complete documentation of RTW progress in our Claims Management System.

When an injury happens, everyone's goal should be to see that the injured employee gets the proper medical treatment and returns to full duty at the earliest opportunity.  To reach this goal, sometimes a modified or transitional job assignment is necessary.  Pre-planning is critical to make this immediate step workable, and will benefit everyone.