{"id":72997,"date":"2022-04-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/?p=72997"},"modified":"2022-06-06T21:22:26","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T21:22:26","slug":"return-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/return-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1912, the Michigan Workers\u2019 Disability Compensation Act provided the workers give up the right to sue their employer in Civil Court. In return, Workers\u2019 Compensation is essentially a \u201cno fault\u201d system. If an employee is injured in the course of employment \u2013 regardless of who was at fault \u2013 unless it was an \u201cintentional\u201d act \u2013 the worker is compensated certain wage loss benefits and the cost of medical treatment and rehabilitation. Workers\u2019 Compensation does not pay for \u201cpain and suffering\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Workers\u2019 Compensation Act, at 110 years old, has had multiple changes and amendments over the years. However, the ultimate goal remains the same \u2013 for the injured worker to return to their former job or another one with the same employer. A return to work is dictated by a medical professional. An injured worker cannot return to work following a work injury until a doctor provides the \u201cO.K.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

During the course of recovery, certain restrictions may be placed on the return to work. If the employer cannot accommodate the restrictions as outlined by the treating physician, the injured worker will receive or continue to receive wage loss benefits. BUT, if the employer can accommodate the restrictions as outlined by the treating physician, the injured worker is required to return to work; if they do not return to work, for whatever reason, they are no longer entitled to wage loss benefits. Additionally, if the injured worker does not return to work when offered a job within their restrictions, the employer should follow their company policies the same as if a workers\u2019 compensation injury was not involved. Said policy can be disciplinary action, termination for 3 day no show\/no call, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is understandable that in some instances an employer may not be able to accommodate an injured worker\u2019s restrictions, depending on the nature of the employer\u2019s business and the nature of the injured worker\u2019s injury. This is where MTMIC can step in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We utilize programs that involve \u201ctransitional work\u201d that will accommodate the injured worker\u2019s restrictions. We enroll the injured worker in one of several available transitional work programs. The program may entail the injured worker having to report to a facility as they would their own employer, Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 3:00. This could be with an operating business or it could be with a sheltered workshop. One of the programs will accommodate ANY restriction \u2013 they even provide a cot if the injured worker has to lay down. The injured worker would be paid a minimum wage for services and Workers\u2019 Compensation would make up the difference to equal the injured worker\u2019s weekly Workers\u2019 Compensation wage loss benefit. If the injured worker refuses the work, leaves early, does not show up (for any reason), their weekly wage loss benefit is deducted those hourly wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another program utilized is having the injured worker volunteer their time at a charity such as Good Will, Salvation Army, etc. Again, the injured worker\u2019s duties would be within their treating physician\u2019s prescribed restrictions. When working at a charity, wages are not paid, but the injured worker will receive their full Workers\u2019 Compensation weekly wage loss benefit. If the injured worker refuses to cooperate, future wage loss benefits are denied. We would still pay for medical treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more recent transitional work program we have utilized is one where the injured worker doesn\u2019t even have to leave their home. Light duty work is mailed to their home. They don\u2019t have to get dressed, leave home, spend money on gasoline for their vehicle or even worry about reliable transportation. They can work at their own pace, taking breaks when they feel the need. Basically, they \u201cself-monitor\u201d what they can or cannot do. In return, they will continue to receive their weekly Workers\u2019 Compensation wage loss benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally, injured workers do not like having to participate in these programs. They would rather return to their regular job. But the transitional work program does serve a purpose for injured workers that have been off work for an \u201cextended\u201d period of time. The injured worker will be able to \u201cease back\u201d into a work routine. Depending on the duties\/functions performed at their \u201cpre-injury\u201d employment, it makes for a much easier return to work. If an injured worker has been off work for 6 to 8 months, it can be very difficult to return to employment that involves a 10 hour day standing on their feet, having to do heavy lifting or repetitive functions. Following an injury, muscle mass declines, on average, 0.5% per day. If the work injury was relatively minor but the employer simply has no light duty work available, there is no reason the injured worker cannot provide services elsewhere \u2013 they are not \u201ctotally disabled\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims Established in 1912, the Michigan Workers\u2019 Disability Compensation Act provided the workers give up the right to sue their employer in Civil Court. In return, Workers\u2019 Compensation is essentially a \u201cno fault\u201d system. If an employee is injured in the course of employment \u2013 regardless of who was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-claims"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/iStock-821202602.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73000,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72997\/revisions\/73000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtmic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}