Sell Your Return To Work Program To Executives

When I see risk managers move to new employers, it is an important time to see and establish where the new company stands with workers’ compensation, the effectiveness of their program, and more importantly where they need to go to gain better control.

When I speak with risk managers and HR personnel, they talk about the disconnect between upper management and middle management. The break in this chain is very bad for expenses, especially those associated with a risk management and insurance program. Passing insurance work as “an HR problem” just does not work. No matter what type of program you have, (guaranteed cost, deductible, self-insured) big money is on the line. It is the responsibility of everyone, not just those in the HR department.

Say, for example, that you are the new risk manager/HR manager/insurance program handler at an employer. You notice right away that your new employer has a lot of people off of work, and they have been off for a long time. The claims adjuster is around but doesn’t seem to be very aggressive. More importantly, you notice no return to work or light duty program.

A light duty program is the cornerstone of an aggressive, involved risk management program. To do business without a light duty program is asking for trouble. You want to establish a return to work policy, but how do you go about accomplishing your mission?

1. Get your facts/numbers in order. If there is one thing that upper management and executives love to see it is hard numbers that affect the bottom line. For work comp purposes, a light duty work program is one of the most studied and proven systems to control costs. To get started, find some relevant studies, and associate them to your real time numbers. Use your broker to provide loss run info, and estimate cost savings if certain claims were return to work versus remaining out of work.

2. Complete detailed job descriptions for this light duty program. The next question is what workers would do in your light duty program. To answer this, go around and identify light duty jobs. Write up complete job descriptions and an analysis for work duties, weights, bending, sit/stand, etc. All possible options should be detailed but written as briefly as you can. Bullet points work well. Also point out that these light duty tasks free up a full-duty worker to do something more productive.

3. Decide who will be running the program and who will be monitoring it. Next is who exactly is leading the program to make sure everyone is working, working within restrictions, going to doctor appts, etc. It is very hard to run something like this by yourself, but a small group of 3-6 people should be more than enough to complete the job duties of monitoring this program depending on the size of your employer. This will make your new executives feel better that (1) they are not going to have to babysit this program, and (2) that you have already considered running it yourself. This will be your baby, and it could also gain you some fantastic exposure at your new employer.
   

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4. Point out the uniform bona fide light duty job offer letter, sheets with contact info, and other paperwork to give to workers. Last will be how workers will be informed of the program, their light duty work assignments, and so on. You should have your paperwork in order, which have the light duty work assignment, job duties, work hours, hourly pay, supervisor information, your information, your carrier’s information, and so on. This should be the final piece of the puzzle.

You can also enlist your broker to assist, especially with providing hard data, comparison studies with similar insurance programs, and anything else you think would be helpful.

A light duty work program is one of the best assets a company can have to saving on work comp costs. By following an outline and presenting your idea in an organized fashion, you should be well on your way to getting it off the ground. Be sure to keep data so you can compare last year to the current year, and you will see very clear cost savings. Good luck!

Author Michael Stack, Principal, COMPClub, Amaxx LLC. He is co-author of Your Ultimate Guide To Mastering Workers Comp Costs, and founder of COMPClub an interactive training program teaching workers’ comp cost containment best practices. Through this platform he is in the trenches on a monthly basis with risk managers, brokers, consultants, attorney’s, and adjusters teaching timeless workers’ comp cost containment strategies, as well as working with members to develop new tactics and systems to address the issues facing organizations today. This unique position allows him to continuously be at the forefront of innovation and thought leadership in workers’ compensation cost containment. Contact: [email protected].

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