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Suitable Employment
> Introduction
> Organising suitable duties
> Return-to-work (RTW) Plan
> Injury management consultant
> Failing to provide suitable duties
> Strategies for permanently injured workers
> Templates & References
Introduction
Providing suitable duties is one of the most critical steps in injury management. Suitable duties assist the worker's recovery. They help the worker to get fit for pre-injury work as soon as possible. They are a way for an injured worker to "recover on the job" but they rely on an accepting culture in your organisation.
Organising suitable duties
> Roles and responsibilities
> When must I provide suitable duties?
> 5 steps of organising suitable duties
Roles and responsibilities
It is the role of the return-to-work coordinator and/or rehabilitation provider to organise duties that are suitable for the injured worker. You must consult with key people such as:
- the worker's nominated treating doctor,
- the supervisor,
- the manager,
- treating health professional(s) (e.g. physiotherapist), and
- the worker.
Include a clear description of how suitable duties will be organised by your organisation in your Return-to-Work Program.
When must I provide suitable duties?
The legislation states that you must provide suitable duties unless:
- It is not reasonably practical to do so;
- The worker has voluntarily left your employment;
- The worker has been terminated for reasons other than their incapacity from the injury.
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5 steps of organising suitable duties
There are basically 5 steps involved in organising suitable duties:
> 1. Identifying suitable duties
> 2. Offering suitable duties
> 3. Gaining acceptance of your offer
> 4. Reviewing the RTW Plan
> 5. Closing the RTW Plan
1. Identifying suitable duties
Make sure your offer of suitable duties complies with the legal definition:
"employment in work for which the worker is suited, having regard to the following:
a) the nature of the worker's incapacity and pre-injury employment;
b) the worker's age, education, skills and work experience;
c) the worker's place of residence;
d) the details given in the medical certificate supplied by the worker;
e) the provisions of any injury management plan for the worker;
f) the length of time the worker has been seeking suitable employment;
g) any other relevant circumstances;
h) must not be demeaning in nature;
i) must not be token in nature."
Use the information provided by the worker's treating doctor as your starting point to develop a list of duties that might be suitable for the worker. Consult with all relevant parties to get ideas. Start with the worker's pre-injury duties to see if they can be modified or redesigned or the work practices changed temporarily. If they cannot be modified then look for different duties in the same work area or different duties in a different part of your organisation. Remember that sending an injured worker to a training course counts as suitable duties - or have that worker fill in for an uninjured worker who needs to go to the course.
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Suitable duties for field workers may include: • Meal services, • Light domestic activities, • Respite care, • Supervision of personal care, • Safety inspections, • Attending training, • Supervision on outings. |
Suitable duties for AIN’s, PCA’s and RN’s may include: • Reading to residents, • Hand and nail care of residents, • Feeding residents, • Medication, • Audits, |
• Reviews of policies and procedures, • Tidying wardrobes, • Reviewing education manuals, • Attending training, • General administration. |
2. Offering suitable duties
Once suitable duties have been identified, make an offer in writing to the injured worker. The offer will be in the form of the RTW plan. Ensure that the injured worker, nominated treating doctor and the manager agree with the duties and conditions.
3. Gaining acceptance of your offer
To accept your offer the injured worker signs the RTW plan. Distribute copies of the RTW plan to all the parties.
4. Reviewing the RTW Plan
It's important to regularly review the RTW plan to ensure that the worker does not remain on suitable duties indefinitely.
The frequency of your review will depend on individual cases. Consider the severity of injury and attitude of supervisor to the rehabilitation process. In some circumstances daily review may be appropriate for a short time although weekly review would be more common.
Regular contact with the injured worker and supervisor ensures compliance and prevents problems and difficulties arising before they can be addressed.
5. Closing the RTW Plan
Don't forget to inform all relevant parties once the worker returns to pre-injury duties. Ensure a “final” medical certificate clearing the worker for normal duties or noting permanent modifications.
Write a summary report on the RTW file.
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Return-to-Work (RTW) Plan
> What is the RTW Plan?
> Format of RTW Plan
What is the RTW Plan?
The RTW plan is the written, formal offer of suitable duties from you to the injured worker. It is designed to make clear what the worker can and cannot do when they return to work and when this will be reviewed. The plan must be developed by all parties:
- the worker,
- supervisor,
- nominated treating doctor,
- return-to-work coordinator,
- Director of Nursing,
- worker representative (if appropriate), and
- accredited rehabilitation provider (if applicable).
In general, the more specific the Plan, particularly with regards to tasks to be done and tasks to be avoided, the less confusion and conflict there will be in the workplace. This also makes it easier to upgrade duties.
Format of RTW Plan
WorkCover specifies a RTW plan must include:
- the goal or purpose of the plan, for example, return to pre-injury duties, retraining for a new job, work experience as part of job-seeking.
- times at which the worker will attend for treatment, for example, the physiotherapy and treating doctor appointment times. You can negotiate these by speaking with the worker and the treatment service, often on speaker-phone.
Remember that equal consideration needs to be given to the business needs of the aged care organisation and the worker's need to attend for treatment.
Often it is practical to allow the worker to attend physiotherapy prior to, or after work, and let them leave early or arrive later to work. Treatment should be obtained by workers out of working hours whenever practicable. This definitely applies to workers who are on reduced working hours - they can easily come to work and attend medical appointments in their own time.
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Injury management consultant
If there are problems about suitable duties - the worker doesn't want to come back to work, or is picky about the duties you are offering – you should consult an injury management consultant.
Injury management consultants are medical practitioners approved by WorkCover specifically for the purpose of reviewing a worker's fitness for suitable employment and the availability of suitable employment at the workplace.
If required, they will visit your organisation, examine the worker and communicate with the treating doctor to arrange an agreed return-to-work. Reports by injury management consultants are readily available to the worker, the employer and the treating doctor.
You can search by name or region for an injury management consultant on the WorkCover website.
Failing to provide suitable duties
Failing to provide suitable duties where it is reasonably possible to do so, may affect you in two ways:
- the cost of the workers compensation claim may increase because the worker may be entitled to special weekly compensation (known as Section 38 benefits) for up to 52 weeks and because they may need more costly rehabilitation help to find another job. This may lead to an increase in your annual workers compensation premium.
- the Workers Compensation Commission may fine you up to $5,000 for not complying with Chapter 3 of the Workplace Injury Management & Workers Compensation Act.
However, remember that the workers compensation benefits of an injured worker who refuses a reasonable offer of suitable duties may be stopped or reduced.
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Strategies for permanently injured workers
> What if the worker can not return to their pre-injury job?
> WorkCover training and employment programs
> Redeployment
> Job-seeking assistance
> Retraining and re-employment
> Termination
What if the worker can not return to their pre-injury job?
Unfortunately, not all injured workers recover sufficiently to return to their pre-injury jobs. To complicate matters, this often does not become apparent for some time, and often after the injured worker has tried, and failed, several times to return to work on suitable duties. Communication and relationships between stakeholders may become strained as it becomes apparent that the goal of return to work is not being reached.
You will need a medical report to support the decision that return to pre-injury duties is not possible.
You will need to include in your RTW Program the strategies you are willing to employ to assist workers with permanent injuries who cannot return to their pre-injury duties.
WorkCover training and employment programs
WorkCover has a range of programs to help seriously injured workers who need additional assistance to return to work. These programs include:
- Work Trials,
- Retraining and Equipment/Worksite Modifications,
- JobCover Placement Program (JPP),
- Financial assistance to provide workplace equipment or modifications.
Find out more by contacting WorkCover or speaking with your accredited rehabilitation provider. Most of the above programs require provider input.
Redeployment
It is unwise to "create" supernumerary positions in your organisation. However, if a vacancy exists that a permanently injured worker has the skills to fill, then it makes good business sense to transfer that worker into that position. Management should arrange the interview, transfer and rate of pay of the new job.
Job seeking assistance
Some workers with long term injuries have enough skills and experience to seek work outside of the aged care industry. You can assist by referring the worker to an accredited rehabilitation provider to help set a realistic labour market goal of re-employment in a new job. The provider may apply for the WorkCover funded training and employment programs mentioned above as part of the strategy to help the worker gain new employment.
Retraining and re-employment
Some workers with long term injuries need retraining in new skills before they can compete in the job market. The intention is that training be short-term top-up skills, not extensive courses. Often work-based training is better than courses which offer no clear employment prospect, for example, completion of a general computer course is often not as marketable as completion of a course in word processing.
Because the worker is still employed by you whilst engaged in retraining it is a good idea to offer "on-the-job experience" in the aged care organisation as part of the retraining program. This gives the worker the opportunity of not only gaining the skills, but also practicing the new skills with an employer who can then provide a reference - you! WorkCover will pay for retraining costs.
Termination
The termination of employment of a worker with a long term injury is a difficult emotional and financial decision to make. However, it must be considered when you can offer no other permanent duties. Remember that terminating an injured worker does not stop the workers compensation claim so it is important to request a claims and premium estimate from your insurer before you do anything.
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