Dedication

About the Author

Introduction

• The Challenge – Changing Your Perception of “Light Duty”
  • What is the definition of a return to work program?
  • Why do most return to work programs fail?
  • How difficult is it to bring an injured employee back to work?
  • What contributes to injured employees remaining off work?

h.5 Chapter 1 Lost Work Days – A Billion Dollar Crisis Hidden in the American Workforce *What is the annual cost of not implementing a return to work program *Calculating the Hidden Indirect Cost of an Injury *What are the direct cost of lost productivity *What are the financial benefits of Implementing a return to work program

h.5 Chapter 2 *Diamonds in the Rough – Key Provisions of the 2003 Florida Workers’ Compensation *Statutory Reform that make the return-to-work process easier *Return-to-Work Gems *Why do you need a written return to work program? *What are the Essential Components of a Successful Return to Work Program? *Before the Injury *After the Injury

h.5 Chapter 3 Creating a Written Return-to-Work Policy! *Six Key Components that should be included in an effective return to work program *Bringing it all together: Creating the Final Policy *To Do List

h.5 Chapter 4 *Analyzing and Evaluating Job Tasks and Demands *What is an “Essential” Function *What are “marginal” functions *How do you evaluate the job demand? *The Job Demand Evaluation is a six-step process *Why is the Job Description an Essential part of your return to work program *To Do List

Chapter 5 *Establishing a Clinic Relationship *What are the key criteria to consider when selecting a workers’ compensation clinic. *Best Practices *Red Flags *Checks and Balances *To Do List

Chapter 6 *“Ouch! I’m Injured!” – Now What? *After the employee says “I’m injured,” you should: *Injuries are divided into four reporting categories *Important Forms *DWC – 1: First Report of Injury or Illness(Notice of Injury) *DWC – 1a: Wage Statement *DWC – 19: Employee Earning Report *DWC – 25: Florida Workers’ Compensation Uniform Medical Treatment Status Form

Chapter 7 The DWC-25: The Return-to-Work Road Map *Statutes that address DWC-25 *Section 1: Clinic Assessment/Determination *What does the Statutes say about major contributing cause? *Section 2: Patient Classification Level *Section 3: Management Treatment Plan *Section 4: Functional Limitations and Restrictions *Section 5: Maximum Medical Improvement/Permanent Impairment Rating *Section 6, 7 Follow-up and Attestation Statement *Recap of the DWC-25

Chapter 8 How do you get the employee back to work? *Return to Work Illustration *To Do List

Chapter 9 *Take your hands off the phone – One more secret in the process *To Do List

Chapter 10 Dear Injured Employee: We would like you to return to work! *Pitfall Number 1 *Pitfall Number 2 *Pitfall Number 3 *Pitfall Number 4 *Injury Management 101 – Twelve steps to re-introduce your employees to work: *To Do list

Chapter 11 *Managing the Injured Worker – Human Resources Rule do not end when the injury begins *To Do List

Chapter 12 What if the employee absolutely will not return to work? *Before you consider terminating an injured employee you should: *To Do List

Chapter 13 *ADA, FMLA, Workers’ Compensation – The Bermuda Triangle *How does this interplay with workers’ compensation *The Law of Unintended Consequences *How does FMLA and ADA interact with Workers’ Compensation *To Do List

Chapter 14 *An Ounce of Prevention is worth __? *Understanding your job demands *Develop a Training Program *Create the rules and enforce them: *Document, Document, Document *It takes a team to make it work *To Do List

Additional Resources and Forms *Return to Work Resources *Government Resources *Safety Resources

Glossary of Terms

Index