Making Return-To-Work Programs Work Better

Of course, renewing employers' interest in helping workers return to work would be good for the workers and for the insurers.

Many disabled workers are capable of returning to work in some capacity fairly soon after their injury or illness occurs and are eager to do so. But they may linger on disability much longer when they fail to get the necessary rehabilitation services or employer support to return to work.

When employees return to work in a productive capacity, the savings in disability costs for every dollar spent on RTW services is substantial.

A formal employer-sponsored RTW program gets employees involved early and steers disabled workers through the rehabilitation process so they can re-enter the work force as quickly as possible.

An employer that is willing to make a few simple, inexpensive accommodations can be especially effective at getting an employee back to work. According to the Job Accommodation Network, 70% of accommodations cost less than $500, and 20% of accommodations cost nothing at all. Accommodations could range from offering a worker a light-duty position during a transition period to something as easy as spending a few hundred dollars on a standing desk to accommodate an employee with back problems.

In some cases, proactive efforts to accommodate workers with health problems could keep those workers from filing disability claims in the first place. Most large and midsize employers now use disease management programs to maintain the health of employees with conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

The work retention assistance provision found in many disability plans will reimburse an employer for job modifications that will keep an employee on the job.

Although the effectiveness of a work retention assistance benefit will be limited at an employer without a formal RTW program, the benefit can be an important element in a comprehensive absence management program

Returning RTW to duty

Two strategies for reviving employer interest in RTW may be streamlining oversight and educating employers about the value of retaining experienced workers.

One reason a company won't–or can't–take full advantage of RTW programs is the company's organizational structure. Many employers put workers' compensation RTW programs in the hands of their risk managers and sick leave, short-term disability and long-term disability under the jurisdiction of employee benefits managers. The risk managers and benefits managers may operate independently, with different budgets and goals. The managers don't coordinate or integrate RTW, and RTW falls through the cracks.

Today, employers and their benefits advisors are starting to overcome this problem by aligning medical coverage, disability coverage, FMLA administration and the workers' comp program.

Simply getting all of these operations to feed RTW data into one clear report can help.

When employers and brokers can see for themselves what worker retention and return-to-work programs are doing to control direct labor costs and increase productivity, they will pay attention.