According to the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, when an employee is unable to work due to a work-related injury or illness, productivity falls and costs rise. The longer the injured employee stays out of work, the higher the costs. Aside from the direct costs of workers’ compensation, indirect costs – such as hiring and training replacement workers – can increase your expenses and impact your profitability.

According to a study performed by The Hartford, employees out of work for more than 12 weeks with a work-related injury have less than a 50 percent chance of returning to work. That can have a significant impact on the life of the worker, on the amount of the claim, and on your ability to find another qualified employee. Employees are one of your firm’s most important assets, so implementing a return-to-work strategy can be a positive step for your entire operation.

The best time to set up your return-to-work (RTW) program is before one of your employees is injured. If you currently have workers’ compensation injuries among your workforce, a return-to-work program can help you get those employees back on the job more quickly. Follow these 10 easy steps:

  1. Establish a return-to-work team and assign an individual or the RTW team to be responsible for the program. Include representatives from both management and labor (union) in the planning process and on the team.
  2. Develop a policy for return-to-work that reflects your company’s commitment to help injured employees get back to work. Include the expectation that all employees will participate.
  3. Develop functional job descriptions that describe physical and other job requirements for all positions.
  4. Identify opportunities for transitional duties at your facility. Ask for suggestions from employees. Consider adapting existing jobs and reorganizing current job tasks.
  5. Educate all employees, example, including managers, about the value of the return-to-work program to all involved parties.
  6. Establish a procedure for early reporting of any injury or illness.
  7. Send the injured employee for medical treatment right away. Give the employee a copy of the functional job description and ask him/her to bring it to the physician. Offer to arrange transportation for the employee to determine if he/she has enough information about workers’ compensation, his/her medical condition, and services.
  8. Stay in touch with the injured employee. Maintain communication among all parties (injured worker, employer, medical provider, insurance carrier), keeping everyone updated and informed.
  9. Investigate the incident. Determine possible causes and solutions to prevent similar incidents.
  10. Allow the injured employee to come back to work in an appropriate capacity as soon as possible (according to medical recommendation).

Perform a workstation assessment if necessary to verify job demands. Determine what changes should be made, such as modifying workstations, restructuring job tasks, providing short-term retraining, providing special adaptive equipment, offering scheduling flexibility, and temporary, alternative and productive work.

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