Nearly all state workers compensation laws provide for rehabilitation programs that help injured workers return to productive employment. However, the terms of these laws vary significantly.
Some states require occupational therapy and re-training. After completing rehab, workers are considered ready for work, although the employer is not required to find another job for them and they won’t necessarily return to productive employment.
In other “defined-benefit” states, rehabilitation is a minor part of the law. The worker is paid for temporary total disability. However, if this disability is defined as a percentage of physical loss, the employer can make a lump-sum payment and close the case, whether or not the worker can return to work.
A third group of states has adopted a “loss of earning power” system that seems to be effective in getting workers back on the job. Once workers are injured, their workers compensation benefits will continue for life unless they’ve fully regained their earning power. For example, Pennsylvania requires that at the time of injury an employer must offer the injured employee a job if one is available within his or her physical restrictions. If this isn’t possible, a rehabilitation program begins, which includes finding positions that the worker is physically able to perform.
Your goal should be to return your injured workers to productive lives as soon as possible after an injury. You’ll benefit from better production, the state and federal government gain from lower long-term costs generated by workers compensation injuries — and your employees will enjoy the dignity of working, along with their earnings.
What’s not to like?
