Employers with unions face very different and unique challenges not faced by non-union companies. There are a total of 15 keys. Here, in Part II we consider the last 9 Tips in designing & implementing an effective return-to-work policy.
7. Show the employees and union how much workers’ compensation costs the company with sound factual information.
8. Use a comparison showing how much in sales it takes to pay for injuries. Sales to Pay for Accidents Calculator.
9. Relate the costs to the financial stability of the company.
10. Relate the costs to the impact on profit sharing plans.
11. Get signed waivers to avoid future claims, such as American with Disability (ADA) claims.
12. Request “withdrawal cards” before lump sum settlements are authorized.
13. Share savings with employees who participate in the company’s return-to-work program. Add this to bonuses, not to wages, so it does not become an ongoing obligation.
14. Consider employer legal responsibilities under ADA. Remind the union of their own obligations to support these legal requirements.
15. Have a company representative attend all hearings to describe the job requirements and offer details as needed.
For more cost-saving tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips.
Workers’ Comp Kit® is a web-based online Assessment, Benchmarking and Cost Containment system for employers.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs.
©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com
What should be included in a Transitional Duty (TD) Policy. A policy is a high-level document that normally contains a general explanation rather than information about HOW the policy will be implemented. Detail about HOW a policy is implemented is provided in working instructions, guidelines, templates and forms. Here are some ideas of sections of your new policy:
1- Purpose of the Policy – a policy generally begins with a statement of purpose.
2- Eligibility - will all ill and injured employees be allowed to participate or only employees who are injured on the job.
3- Type of Jobs – What type of positions, duties or tasks will be provided. Will they be similar to the original job?
4- Nature of Assignment – Is transitional duty mandatory, and what happens if an employee does not participate in the program.
5- Medical Appointments during TD – how will physical therapy and medical appointments be handled while an employee is on TD?
6- Length of Transitional Duty – how long will transitional duty assignments last
7 – Review of Assignments – how will assignments be reviewed
8- Communication of Expectations – how will information about TD be communicated (letters, phone calls, meetings)to participants in the program.
9- Termination of Assignments – What happens when TD ends if the employee has not returned to their original job. Will notices run concurrently, etc?
10- Rate of Pay -will this be full pay, partial pay or somewhere in the middle. Is overtime allowed?
11- Coordination with Relevant laws – how will other laws such as the FMLA, ADA, COBRA, etc be coordinated. These are the considerations to include in your TD Policy. Of course every company is different so you will tailor these to meet the needs of your company.
Author Rebecca Shafer, JD, President of Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. is a national expert in the field of workers compensation. She is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. Her expertise is working with employers to reduce workers compensation costs, and her clients include airlines, healthcare, printing, publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2011 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
We all know there is a huge cost-savings when implementing a Return to Work Program, but there are other benefits as well. Here are a few: 1 – Employees stay physically conditioned. 2- Recovery time is reduced. 3- Indemnity payments are lower and claims are less expensive. 4- Fewer attorneys become involved. 5- Employees aren't afraid of reinjury if the return gradually. 6- Permanency awards are likely to be lower. 7- Employees maintain marketable employment skills. 8- Employees' daily routine continues to include a regular work routine and maintain their identity as employees. 9- There is a lower likelihood that injured employee will become clinically depressed. A high percentage of workers who are out of the workplace become clinically depressed. Clinical depression is often a component of pain syndrome. 10- Lower retraining costs for replacement staff. For more cost-saving tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips. Show the cost savings with the Transitional Duty Calculator. Workers' Comp Kit® is a web-based online Assessment, Benchmarking and Cost Containment system for employers. Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs. ©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com
Employers with unions face very different and unique challenges not faced by non-union companies. Consider these 15 Tips in designing and implementing an effective return-to-work policy.
1. Determine what management rights you may already have to implement a return-to-work program.
2. Negotiate counterproductive clauses out of the collective bargaining agreement.
3. Consider buying out in negotiations particularly onerous clauses, such as minimum manning provisions, limitations on temporary transfer of employees and prohibition on work out of classification.
4. Obtain top management commitment to the program. Educate in-house counsel.
5. Communicate the program to the unions, employees and supervisors by sitting down and talking with them. Approach the most receptive unions first. Use them as a selling point before approaching more difficult unions.
6. Eliminate collateral source payments, such as long-term disability, short-term disability and use of vacation and sick time, effectively allowing employees to earn more when they don't work than when they do.
7. Show the employees and union how much workers' compensation costs the company with sound factual information.
8. Use a comparison showing how much in sales it takes to pay for injuries. Sales to Pay for Accidents Calculator.
9. Get signed waivers to avoid future claims, such as American with Disability (ADA) claims.
10. Request "withdrawal cards" before lump sum settlements are authorized.
11. Share savings with employees who participate in the company's return-to-work program. Add this to bonuses, not to wages, so it does not become an ongoing obligation.
12. Consider employer legal responsibilities under ADA. Remind the union of their own obligations to support these legal requirements.
13. Have a company representative attend all hearings to describe the job requirements and offer details as needed. For more cost-saving tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips. Show the REAL cost of workers' comp with the Real Cost Calculator. Workers' Comp Kit® is a web-based online Assessment, Benchmarking and Cost Containment system for employers.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs.
©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com
It is critically important that management makes return-to-work programs part of the corporate culture. The employee's expectations should be that if/when they go out on workers' compensation, they will return to work immediately in some form of transitional work capacity. What are a few of the tools that can be used to make return to work part of the culture? 1- Talk about RTW in a positive way – never badmouth the jobs, the participants or the concept. 2- Make RTW a positive experience by finding productive tasks or jobs. Never have transitional duty jobs be punitive. 3- Demonstrate the cost of NOT doing it, and the savings OF doing it by showing it to employees in terms they understand and management in terms understood by executives. Show the REAL cost of workers comp with the Real Cost Calculator. 4- Incorporate RTW in all policies and procedures such as Medical Policy and/or Leave of Absence Policy, Wellness Policy. 5- Make it a mandatory requirement of employment – so all employees expect to be treated in a similar fair manner. 6- Hold weekly meetings to discuss obstacles to return to work – keeps employees "connected" and employers stay on top of the worker's abilities. 7 – Send Get Well Cards for colleagues that are injured. Perhaps include a gift card to Papaginos's or a local restaurant or one that delivers with the card. 8- Maintain the rules strictly and make them standardized. 9- Show supervisors the cost savings and benefits (they have less retraining, for example). 10 – Don't hesitate to use vendors like www.PreCareInc.com that do on-site work hardening and RTW coaching. 11 – Include them in workplace activities while they are recovering. Don't forget to include them in meetings, events while they are injured. Once they are out of work they can easily become alienated and lose social contacts, so continue to include them in workplace activities even if they are doing a partial schedule while they work toward full duty. These are just a few ways to make RTW part of your corporate culture. Start now, and take small steps. Stick with the program and gradually it will be accepted. For more cost savings tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips. Show the REAL cost of workers comp with the Real Cost Calculator. Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs. ©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com
Seven Reasons Workers’ Compensation Costs are So High is now available in Spanish: Siete Razones Mayores Por La Que Costos De Compensacion Laboral Son Tan Altos
Some of our materials have been translated into Spanish and we will have articles available from time to time also. All materials are available for translation for a fee (we have a translator.) Turn-around time is approximately one week. Spanish articles are helpful if you or your location management is helping roll out a WC program and Spanish is the preferred language. Click here if you want to read 7 Reasons WC Costs are High: Spanish Article
For cost savings tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips.
Show REAL cost of workers comp with the Real Cost Calculator.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs.
©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com
Employers can choose from a variety of transitional work programs. The first are alternate or lighter duty programs. These allow employees to work at less demanding jobs, different jobs until they are physically able to resume their original work duties. For example, an employee who does physically demanding labor could work in a more sedentary capacity, such as answering telephone or taking inventory. To find out how much transitional duty will save your company try the TD Calculator: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/transitional-duty-cost-calculator.php The second type of transitional work program is the modified duty or transitional duty position where their original jobs are modified through engineering alterations of the workstation. Work hardening is another alternative. This is where employees perform job-related tasks in increasingly difficulty until they regain the physical ability to perform the entire original job. There are work-hardening programs off site which can be an excellent alternative if there is no way transitional duty can be accommodated at the work site. Read how to get employees back to work at: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/employees-back-to-work-sooner.php The key is thinking creatively. Most employees want to come back to work as soon as possible, so think outside the box to see how you can get them back within their restrictions, of course, as quickly as possible. For more cost savings tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips.
Workers' Comp Kit's informal online poll shows that 57% of companies have RTW (return to work) programs and 43% do not. This is a huge opportunity for employers to save money. If a company has a large deductible, they can save money almost instantly by returning employees to work faster. One of the biggest causes of high workers comp costs is a disproportionate length of disability. If an employee is injured January 1, and healed January 15, they should be back to work January 15 – not June 15 or July 15. You must bring the time out of work back down so that it is proportionate to the length of time of the actual medical disability. Since almost all worker's compensation systems around the work pay for lost wages, this will apply to many countries occupational injury systems. Top 12 Steps to Bring Employees Back to Work Sooner
- 1. Have a Transitional Duty Policy that requires participation when an employee is injured.
- 2. Communicate your program to the workforce in a positive way so it becomes part of your corporate culture.
- 3. Show management the cost savings of an effective transitional duty program with our Transitional Duty Calculator (below).
- 4. Establish a goal to bring 90% or more of injured employees who would lose time from work back to work within 1-4 days after in the injury.
- Click here for more TIPS www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com/employees-back-to-work-sooner.php
For more cost savings tips go to WC Cost Reduction Tips. Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Check with your legal counsel before implementing any changes.
Companies can save millions of dollars by implementing a Transitional Duty Program.
A transitional duty program is when an injured employe is placed in temporary positions, tasks, or jobs that are less demanding than his or her original position. This assists in getting injured employees back to work sooner, but allows them to go through the healing process. See how much money you can save by bringing an employee back to work 14 days earlier with the Transitional Duty Calculator: click here: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/transitional-duty-cost-calculator.php.
Saving 14 days at $80.00 per day, and the cost of replacement labor might be $1,500 for a temporary worker, if your company profit margin is 7.5 percent. This shows by bringing an employee back to work 14 days earlier your company has saved $34,900. which is the amount of money it would take to "replace" the $2,620 out-of-pocket cost. Use the transitional duty calculator to build management commitment when you are beginning your transitional-duty program. For some smaller companies this might be the entire gross earning for one week. For the 7 Biggest Mistakes Companies Make, click here: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/lower-reduce-workers-comp-costs.php
Author Rebecca Shafer, President of Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. is an attorney and national expert in the field of workers compensation. She is a writer, speaker and website publisher. Her expertise is working with employers to reduce workers compensation costs, and her clients include airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. Contact: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
WORK COMP CALCULATOR: http://www.LowerWC.com/calculator.php
MODIFIED DUTY CALCULATOR: http://www.LowerWC.com/transitional-duty-cost-calculator.php
WC GROUP: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=1922050/
SUBSCRIBE: Workers Comp Resource Center Newsletter
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
©2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
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