First Step to Make Unions A Significant Asset to Return to Work

Hey there, Michael Stack here, CEO of Amaxx and founder of the Amaxx Workers’ Comp Training Center. I run a virtual company. I write a blog. I sell our books. I do virtual training and consulting. What that allows me to do and my family to do is have some flexibility as far as our location of where we live and work. Now our home is in Kennebunkport, Maine, but for this summer and actually last summer as well, we’ve spent the summer living and working in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. While it’s a little bit of a challenge uprooting and settling into a new office and settling into a condo, etc, for that time, the reason that we do it is that it gets us out of our own way. It gets us out of our own paradigms and beliefs to take a look at our routines and assess what it is that we want to keep moving forward as we start the new school year and what are those things that we just do just because we do them. Being in this different environment allows that perspective in order for us to really make those changes. It’s been incredibly valuable for us and also enjoyable to enjoy this new space.

Unions Can Be Significant Asset to Return To Work

In workers’ compensation, one of the most commonly held beliefs is that return to work in a union environment is difficult if not impossible to be successful. I want to challenge you today to take a look at that paradigm, that belief, from a different perspective, because a union environment, while it might not be that easy to get corrected, there are some challenges and some steps you need to go through, can be one of the biggest assets to success in worker’s compensation. The first place to start on this, you need to know where you stand initially. I want to have you review two things for you to get that understanding of where you’re starting so that you can now put those pieces in place to start to mend that relationship and work together as a partnership rather than against each other.

Review Collective Bargaining Agreement

First thing that I want you to have you look at is your collective bargaining agreement. What does it say in regards to return to work? Now many collective bargain agreements will address this point specifically in regards to transitional duty or temporary jobs or modifications of jobs. There are many though however that won’t address this point at all. What you need to do in that scenario is take a look at what the precedent is. What has been done? What is typically done at your organization with your union in regards to return to work? That’s step number one.

Examine Leadership Beliefs

Step number two then is you need to look at the beliefs of your senior leadership and the leadership of the union. What are those commonly held beliefs and paradigms that they exist in in regards to return to work with this employment and union relationship? It may be that one side believes something about the other that just isn’t true. We’ve seen that happen many times over. Once you can get that understanding of where you stand, then you can start to mend that relationship and work together towards being successful. I hope this challenge for you today comes to fruition, that you can look at your union relationship as the potential for being a significant asset to return to work rather than being difficult or impossible. Again, I’m Michael Stack with Amaxx. Remember your work today in workers’ compensation can not only save significant work comp dollars, but it will dramatically impact someone’s life, so be great.

Learn more: How to Execute Successful Return to Work with Unions

Author Michael Stack, Principal, Amaxx LLC. He is an expert in workers compensation cost containment systems and helps employers reduce their work comp costs by 20% to 50%. He works as a consultant to large and mid-market clients, is co-author of Your Ultimate Guide To Mastering Workers Comp Costs, a comprehensive step-by-step manual of cost containment strategies based on hands-on field experience, and is founder & lead trainer of Amaxx Workers’ Comp Training Center. .

Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

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