RISKVUE ARCHIVE | INDUSTRY WATCH > WORKERS' COMP

Workers’ Compensation — What Do Employees Know?

By William R. Henry, Jr.
The CIMA Companies, Inc.

A recent survey by Hartford confirms what previous surveys have indicated — workers’ compensation is a benefit that many employees don’t even know exists. Hartford found that 38% of 610 employed adults did not know that their medical expenses would be paid if they were injured on the job. About 15% did not know that they would receive any compensation at all if they missed work because of work-related injury or illness. The most expensive benefit is one that employees don’t realize they have.

What to do:

• Set employees’ expectations. With current employees and new hires alike, explain that if they have a work-related injury or illness, they will receive benefits regardless of who is at fault. Also explain that you will return them to productive duty as soon as possible. Then, walk the walk: when an injury occurs (work-related or not), have the supervisor or human resources specialist contact the employee to express concern and reinforce your intention to bring the employee back soon.
  
  
• Define the “essential functions” of each job. This is necessary for Americans With Disabilities Act compliance, and will help you determine “reasonable accommodations” that can shorten or eliminate absences.
  
  
• Work around the injury. Have the treating physician identify in writing any limitations that would prevent the employee from resuming his or her regular job the next day. If there are any, use your “essential functions” descriptions to determine, with the physician, how the employee can return to your workforce with or without a reasonable accommodation, and how soon. In the process, you might find ways to reduce the risk of future injury. For example, lifting and twisting motions often lead to disabling lower-back injuries. Employers with this risk exposure might redesign their work stations, or change the size or weight of the objects being lifted. (Note: The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in Toyota v. Williams that the mere inability to perform certain tasks required by the job does not establish a disability protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act. In interpreting the ADA’s language defining disabilities as “substantial limitation of major life activities,” the court ruled that claimants must show that they are unable to “perform the variety of tasks central to most people’s daily lives.”)
  
  
• Be creative in your return-to-work options. Suppose the injured employee cannot perform his or her regular job because of the injury or illness. Many employers say, “But I don’t have anything else for them to do.” Before you embrace that conclusion, brainstorm all you can, with your supervisors. Employers have designed modified and temporary responsibilities that helped them not only manage expensive absences but also accomplish worthwhile objectives. One company’s injured employees have filled in as dispatchers and estimators. Workers at another company participated in a task force studying floor and floor-cleaning materials that could reduce slips and falls. Look around. What projects have you put off because everyone has been busy? What cross-training might help you in six months or a year? You might have found an assignment for your restricted-duty employees.

A majority of occupational health specialists surveyed by ManagedComp, a company specializing in claims and disability management, believe less than 10 percent of injuries would require more than three days off work if managed properly.

• Eliminate practical obstacles. For example, if departments are separate profit centers, supervisors might resist having employees who can’t “pull their weight” because of a physical restriction. Change the payroll/accounting system to make this a nonissue.
  
  
• Cut the cost of medical care. It’s popular to beat up on managed care right now, but techniques such as utilization review and case management do help get employees back to work. For emergency medical care, arrange in advance for treatment at one of the many urgent-care centers in the area. Avoid the more expensive hospital emergency rooms.
  
  
• Learn from your experiences. What were the causes of a work-related illness or injury? Safety or ergonomics issues? Lack of training? Dig deep. Is there no incentive to report and correct potential hazards? Is there lack of accountability? Remove those fundamental obstacles to controlling absences.

The Integrated Benefits Institute in San Francisco reports that employers with aggressive return-to-work programs have reduced their cost of occupational disability by an average of 40% and nonoccupational disability by 23%. Put a program into place, and work on it until it’s part of your culture.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Henry is director of communication for The CIMA Companies, Inc., an independently owned insurance broker and risk management firm with offices in Alexandria, VA, Baltimore, MD, and Atlanta, GA. More information is available at www.cimaworld.com. William Henry can be contacted at bhenry@cimaworld.com.

riskVue | The webzine for risk management profesionals
November 2002