{"id":3049,"date":"2015-03-12T15:45:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T20:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/?p=3049"},"modified":"2015-04-21T09:04:48","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T14:04:48","slug":"return-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/2015\/03\/12\/return-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Return to work programs minimize the emotional and economic impact a work related injury has on both the employee and the employer by returning the injured or ill employee back to work as soon as medically feasible. These programs should create a partnership between the employee and employer to ensure both parties\u2019 needs are met. A successful return to work program can also be structured by the institutions\u2019 human resource departments to be used when an employee experiences a non-work related illness or injury. In order to start or continue a return to work program there needs to be buy in from senior management and there needs to be a clearly defined policy. Below is some additional information in regards to return to work programs.<\/p>\n<p>Benefits of Return to Work Programs<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shows the employer values the employee and his\/her contributions to the institution and the employee is an asset to the institution<\/li>\n<li>Employees are less likely to experience secondary complications such as depression<\/li>\n<li>Allows the employee to maintain contact with co-workers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Continual and Effective Communication<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Early contact with the employee by the workers compensation administrator, immediate supervisor and\/or director of the department sets the tone for the entire recovery<\/li>\n<li>Early communication helps the employee feel connected to the workplace<\/li>\n<li>Early communication should not consist of blame or employer financial concern<\/li>\n<li>Employer and supervisor should remain positive and empathetic and convey concern for the employee\u2019s health and well being<\/li>\n<li>Remind the employee of the return to work program<\/li>\n<li>Create a welcoming environment for the employee to return to<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Review\u00a0 the job description of the employees<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure position descriptions are accurate and clearly define the unrestricted duties of the employee. This allows the medical provider to fully understand the job requirements<\/li>\n<li>Clearly outline job tasks with physical demands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Develop an injury\/ illness packet<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Letter to health care provider<\/li>\n<li>Define responsibilities<\/li>\n<li>Return to work policy<\/li>\n<li>Link to the UW system or institution website for Workers Compensation information<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to work programs minimize the emotional and economic impact a work related injury has on both the employee and the employer by returning the injured or ill employee back to work as soon as medically feasible. These programs should create a partnership between the employee and employer to ensure both parties\u2019 needs are met. A successful return to work program can also be structured by the institutions\u2019 human resource departments to be used when an employee experiences a non-work related illness or injury. In order to start or continue a return to work program there needs to be buy in from senior management and there needs to be a clearly defined policy. Below is some additional information in regards to return to work programs.<\/p>\n<p>Benefits of Return to Work Programs<br \/>\n\u2022Shows the employer values the employee and his\/her contributions to the institution and the employee is an asset to the institution<br \/>\n\u2022Employees are less likely to experience secondary complications such as depression<br \/>\n\u2022Allows the employee to maintain contact with co-workers<\/p>\n<p>Continual and Effective Communication<br \/>\n\u2022Early contact with the employee by the workers compensation administrator, immediate supervisor and\/or director of the department sets the tone for the entire recovery<br \/>\n\u2022Early communication helps the employee feel connected to the workplace<br \/>\n\u2022Early communication should not consist of blame or employer financial concern<br \/>\n\u2022Employer and supervisor should remain positive and empathetic and convey concern for the employee\u2019s health and well being<br \/>\n\u2022Remind the employee of the return to work program<br \/>\n\u2022Create a welcoming environment for the employee to return to<br \/>\n\u2022<\/p>\n<p>Review  the job description of the employees<br \/>\n\u2022Make sure position descriptions are accurate and clearly define the unrestricted duties of the employee. This allows the medical provider to fully understand the job requirements<br \/>\n\u2022Clearly outline job tasks with physical demands.<\/p>\n<p>Develop an injury\/ illness packet<br \/>\n\u2022Letter to health care provider<br \/>\n\u2022Define responsibilities<br \/>\n\u2022Return to work policy<br \/>\n\u2022Link to the UW system or institution website for Workers Compensation information<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/ehs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}