In Slow Economy, Injured Workers May Find It Harder to Return to Work

Insurance JournalA new report from Workers Compensation Research Institute says some injured workers may face even greater challenges in returning to work. This could lead to potential increases in the duration of disability.

The report, titled “Factors Influencing Return to Work for Injured Workers: Lessons from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,” was released this week.

WCRI’s report says the economic downturn has diminished the impact of selected workers’ comp system features that facilitate return to work for longer-term injured workers.

According to the study, poor economic conditions have made it more difficult for some employers to offer light, transitional, or modified duty to assist their injured workers in returning to sustainable work — or to provide permanent job accommodations for workers with restrictions.

How workers’ comp system features impact injured workers’ return-to-work prospects is particularly relevant in the context of the economic downturn, said Richard Victor, executive director of the Cambridge, Mass.-based WCRI. Identifying system features that promote early return to work and understanding those that create barriers to return to work can help policymakers focus on win-win opportunities for both injured workers and employers, he said.

The study found that:

• Clear standards and processes for temporary disability benefit termination that provide mutual financial incentives for employers and injured workers to return to safe and suitable light, modified or transitional duty during the healing period can minimize a worker’s detachment from the workforce, reduce the likelihood of longer-term absence, and thereby reduce indemnity costs – payment of lost wages – for employers.

• Medical providers play a central role in return-to-work efforts. Public policy decisions that impact the delivery of workers’ comp medical care can affect indemnity benefits through the return-to-work process.

• The transition from temporary to permanent disability benefits is a key leverage point. The most important system design approaches for facilitating return to work encompass strong, bilateral incentives for pre-injury employers to return workers with permanent restrictions to work and for injured workers to accept legitimate offers of employment.

• Workers with permanent restrictions are especially vulnerable to difficulties and delays in return to work and they represent several impact opportunities from the standpoint of workers’ comp system design. The difficulties these workers face are magnified further in the economic downturn and put a public policy spotlight on how workers’ comp systems address workers who are unable to return to work with the pre-injury employer — particularly in the areas of lump sum settlement practices and the availability of vocational rehabilitation and retraining benefits.

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