The Return to Work Ratio (RTW Ratio) measures how quickly employees return to work — whether in their original job or a transitional duty job. It measures the number of days an employee loses from work before returning to work and what percentage of injured employees return with in the first few days after an injury.
90 – 95% of injured employees who are injured severely enough to lose time from work should return to work within the first 0-4 days after their injury occurred. The higher the percent of employees who return to work quickly, the fewer indemnity payments are made, and the fewer medical visits are necessary for an employee to remain off work. Use the Return to Work Ratio Calculator to calculate your company's Return to Work Ratio.
In most states, a claim is not compensable until after a “waiting period†such as after the 4th day of absence. When an employee is out for the 5th day, payments are made on a retroactive basis for the first 4 days of lost time, or there might not be a retroactive period. Each state is different. Ask your adjuster the state waiting period in your state. State laws are available in Resources in clickable-map format.
Ask your TPA to prepare a summary of lost work days for you each month. Adjusters pay for lost wages according to how many days an employee loses from work so the number of lost days should be readily available to adjusters. Make sure adjusters are closely monitoring lost work days. Many carriers do not do a good job of counting lost work days, primarily because of all the "ins and outs." Make sure that "field" is "mandatory"; ask the Account Executive of your TPA or carrier to make the lost work days field mandatory! You won't get what you don't ask for! Your broker will usually coordinate this.
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@WorkersCompKit.com
