It's a comprehensive plan to enable injured employees to return to work more quickly and safely—either with modifications to the original job or a temporary work assignment, until they're ready to resume the original job. The plan may involve adjusting work assignments, providing alternate tasks or adjusting the work schedule. You can help by opening channels of communication between the employee, the doctor, the employee's immediate supervisor and Zenith. This increases the odds that the worker will stay connected to the job and recover more quickly.

Most work accommodations cost little or nothing to implement. Even modifications that may cost a few hundred dollars produce an excellent return-on-investment, because they allow your injured employee to remain a productive part of your team. For instance, one employer purchased a scissor lift for $250 that allowed a warehouse worker to continue his regular job duties without having to bend or lift merchandise, and without having to hire another employee.

“Think Task, Not Job." Although many of your current “jobs” may require tasks that exceed the employee’s temporary medical restrictions, he or she may be able to perform many of the required tasks despite the injury. Also, don’t think in terms of a “Light-Duty Job”; instead, analyze all of your potentially useful work activities, not just those included in the employee’s regular job or other jobs already performed by your employees. This will help to identify alternative tasks that bring value to your operation. Zenith can help you set up a transitional work assignment, which can often be designed to fit your company's business objectives and production needs. With assistance from the Zenith Claims/Return-to-Work specialist or Safety and Health Consultant, you should be able to identify temporary task assignments that will allow your employee to safely transition back to full duties as part of the recovery process, and still receive a valuable work product from your employee.

By returning to work sooner, your employee is less apt to face physical deconditioning and loss of work skills. Your employee will also keep earning money, which enhances self worth and work integrity. The sooner employees begin transitional work, the sooner they can return to their original job.

Zenith investigates questionable claims. Let the claims adjuster know about your concerns. At the same time, however, by sending the message that injured employees are expected to return to work as soon as it is medically safe, you can actually deter the filing of questionable or suspicious claims. Your fair treatment and your eagerness to have the employee contribute to your team's success can also serve to improve a working relationship that might otherwise deteriorate.

In most cases, some production is better than no production. It does not benefit employees or the employer to have a worker idle at home. This prolongs recovery and separates the worker from the workplace. Statistics show that injured workers rarely re-injure themselves if they're assigned to transitional work that's medically appropriate and everyone is aware of their medical abilities and functional limitations.

Research studies have shown that employees with Return-to-Work Programs recover quicker, return to their regular work sooner, and are released from medical care faster than employers without a Return-to-Work Program in place. If you can reduce the number of lost-time claims, and reduce the overall costs of your claims, you can make a positive impact on your workers’ compensation premium costs.

Yes. Aside from being the number one on-the-job injury, back claims are among the most expensive injuries for employers. The good news is when employers adopt a RTW plan, employees with back ailments typically get prompt medical intervention, recover faster and miss fewer days of work. (Source: The Top 10 Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting Six Large US Employers, Goetzel, et. al., Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, January 2003)