Using Vocational Rehabilitation to Resolve Work Comp Cases: A Primer

Using vocational rehabilitation services is one of many opportunities to resolve workers’ compensation claims. While it may seem counterintuitive, the claim management team can do it with hard work and planning. This series explores the history of vocational rehabilitation and offers suggestions for reducing workers’ compensation program costs through vocational rehabilitation services.

History of Vocational Rehabilitation Benefits in Work Comp

Vocational rehabilitation was initially not a part of workers’ compensation benefits for an employee following a work injury. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the need to add it to the suite of benefits available to an employee that was viewed as a necessity and others as the added cost of workers’ compensation laws. Regardless of one’s position on its inclusion, the addition of vocational rehabilitation benefits has helped countless employees recover from work injuries and return to the workplace.

Vocational rehabilitation benefits consist primarily of three categories of services. Each service is unique and fills a role in the void left by wage loss and medical benefits. All of these services are conducted under the supervision of a vocational counselor trained in disability rehabilitation and medical services. The qualifications and requirements of a vocational counselor are lyrically defined by law or regulation and vary in each jurisdiction:

• Medical Management Services: Injured employees experience high frustration attending countless medical appointments. This is compounded by doctors using terms they might not fully understand or comprehend. A vocational counselor will often attend medical appointments with the employee to help explain what is being said and discuss the ramifications of procedures such as surgery or the use of prescription medications.

• Direct Job Placement and On-The-Job Training: Employees struggle returning to work, especially when it is in a different role, different employer, or working within restrictions following a work injury. This can be the case when an employee has limited transferable job skills or has worked for a single employer for an extended timeframe. Job placement services encompass a wide variety of functions, including assistance in job applications, developing a resume, and seeking job postings in the employee’s area(s) of interest.

• Formal Retraining includes a formal education program at a trade school or traditional college. The vocational counselor must develop a formal plan that is subject to approval or the litigation process when the defense interests file a timely objection. These plans include the costs associated with the educational portions and other miscellaneous expenses reasonable to retraining.

Vocational counselors are generally required not to be advocates but are limited to assisting the employee in completing the established and approved vocational rehabilitation plan. A vocational counselor can be subject to sanction or penalty if they engage in any activity or communication considered advocacy.

The Goal of Vocational Rehabilitation: Restore an Injured Life

The goal of any vocational rehabilitation plan and activity performed by a vocational counselor is to restore the injured employee to their pre-injury job or assist the employee in attaining an economic status as close as possible to what they would have enjoyed without the disability. While vocational rehabilitation is seen as an added cost to a workers’ compensation program, interested stakeholders and members of the claim management team should embrace it as an opportunity to reduce costs and resolve disputes.

While there are added costs to vocational rehabilitation, here are some of the opportunities it presents:

• Encourage return to work by using the vocational counselor to assist the employee in returning to their pre-injury position or help with job search efforts;

• Use the vocational counselor as a reliable point of contact when it comes to returning to work and medical management efforts; and

• Identify barriers the employee faces after a work injury and assist in moving a claim toward settlement and closure.

Claim handlers and other stakeholders should proactively select a vocational counselor and challenge an employee’s efforts with compassion and empathy.

Conclusions

Additional vocational rehabilitation services added another layer of benefits available to an injured employee. Due to the inclusion of these services, members of the claim management team have been required to deal with a complex system that some view as adding additional costs. While vocational rehabilitation services can be an added cost to the workers’ compensation system, it should be an opportunity to be creative and work with vocational counselor and other stakeholders to drive claims toward settlement.

Michael Stack, CEO of Amaxx LLC, is an expert workers’ compensation cost containment systems and provides education, training, and consulting to help employers reduce their workers’ compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is co-author of the #1 selling comprehensive training guide “Your Ultimate Guide to Mastering Workers’ Comp Costs: Reduce Costs 20% to 50%.” Stack is the creator of Injury Management Results (IMR) software and founder of Amaxx Workers’ Comp Training Center. WC Mastery Training teaching injury management best practices such as return to work, communication, claims best practices, medical management, and working with vendors. IMR software simplifies the implementation of these best practices for employers and ties results to a Critical Metrics Dashboard.

Contact: [email protected].

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Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker, attorney, or qualified professional.