When William hurt his back and couldn't work for three months, it not only had a devastating impact on his life, but it also hurt the firm he worked for - a small business.
William wondered if he could ever go back to his job because the injury allowed him to lift only a fraction of the weight he could lift before the injury.And what about the employer? Should the job be left open for William, or should it be filled by a new employee who must undergo expensive training.
This scenario happens all too often, and until the Legislature passed the Utah Injured Workers Re-employment Act - which became effective July 1 - there was a controversy over rehabilitation for injured workers.
Employees said not enough was being done and employers said they already were doing plenty to rehabilitate injured workers, said Joyce Sewell, director of the State Industrial Commission's Industrial Accidents Division.
The act might provide a little light at the end of the injured worker's tunnel.
The act is "intended to promote and monitor the state's and the employer's capacity to assist the injured worker in returning to the work force as quickly as possible and to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the program."
It allowed the commission to hire a program coordinator and a counselor. The new coordinator is Kelvin Fowler, a former Utahn who most recently was employee assistance manager for the McDonnell Douglas Corp., Long Beach, Calif. The new counselor is Angela Harris, who has worked in the Job Training Partnership Act program in Virginia.
Their duties are to:
- Identify and verify the qualifications of all public or private re-employment or rehabilitation providers who render any medical or vocational re-employment or rehabilitation services, including those directly employed by an insurer, employer or self-insurer.
- Gather reliable data from employers, insurance carriers, employees and rehabilitation providers for cost effective recommendations to carry out the intent of the law.
- Evaluate results to determine whether early identification of potential candidates for retraining results in overall cost reduction and return of the injured worker to gainful employment.
- Assure the contact and coordination of the employer or its workers' compensation insurance carrier and the disable injured worker to encourage the development of evaluations and re-employment plans so completion of the plans can be monitored by the commission.
- Recommend procedures to avoid the duplication of services provided by other state agencies or private rehabilitation services, including registering the disabled injured worker with Job Service for re-employment.
Fowler said when it appears an injured worker is or will be a disabled injured worker, or when the period of the injured worker's temporary total disability compensation period exceeds 90 days, the employer or workmen's compensation carrier shall within 30 days file a report with the commission on the worker's needs for vocational assistance in re-employment.
Sewell said when it appears an injured worker is a disable injured worker, the employer or workers' compensation insurance carrier should, within 10 days after receiving the initial injury report, refer the disabled injured worker to the Utah Office of Rehabilitation.
Fowler said the act's objective is to return the injured worker to the same job with the same employer. If that isn't possible, the alternatives include a modified job with the same employer; the same job with a new employer; a modified job with a new employer; a new with a new employer; or retraining for a new occupation.
Since being hired, Harris has been reviewing 76,000 reports on injuries filed last year to identify the more serious ones.
Harris and Fowler have held meetings with attorneys who defend workmen's compensation cases, insurance adjusters and self-insured employers as part of the continuing education process to acquaint everyone with provisions of the act.
In conjunction with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, they have identified 350 Utah companies with more than 250 employees and sent them a copy of the law. They are asking these companies to write a return-to-work policy. They also will meet with doctors, labor leaders, advocates for injured workers and employee groups.
Sewell said they will make an annual report to the Legislature with the intent of fixing any parts of the new law that aren't working.