Workers’ Comp News

Best Practices: Return to Work
and Job Offer Letters

Return-to-work options reduce the financial impact on your workers’ compensation premiums. Less time off work equals less impact on the premiums you pay.

With a successful return to work, you retain a valuable employee and limit the financial impact of the claim on your insurance premiums. Employers and employees who remain in close communication and work together are best able to limit time off the job. You can be the catalyst for achieving return-to-work as quickly as possible.

Having a Return to Work program in place is best practice and in turn, reduces uncertainty and delays. When the injury occurs, the employee:

• Completes an incident report
• Takes Return to Work form or job description to their initial medical appointment for review by the medical provider.

When the worker returns with the Return to Work form or job description, you will be able to provide a job offer in writing to the worker.

Coupling an approved Return to Work form or job description with a written job offer letter provides protection against time-loss. If your employee chooses not to show up for the job, declines the modified-duty job, is terminated for cause or quits while working the approved modified-duty job, they are no longer entitled to time-loss after the start date of the written job offer.

While the formal return-to-work process above is a best practice, an employee can return to work at any time through a verbal offer or agreement.

Additional benefits of a written job offer letter can include Stay-at-Work reimbursements including the ability to purchase and be reimbursed for job modifications, preventing unnecessary vocational services (and the associated costs) from being assigned on a claim, and Preferred Worker benefits.

For more information on Return to Work or job offer letters please contact your ERNwest claims manager. Download the Incident Reporting Poster for a helpful visual.