Business

Employee return to work program

Not all employees are the same. To keep your business running every day, do you find that you speak and approach each employee differently? That same method can hold true when working with employees to get them back to work quickly and safely after a workers’ compensation claim.

Back-to-work approach One employee at a time

Just as tasks and duties are assigned to each employee, so must the return-to-work program. There are many different back to work programs that can be used. Match the program to specific employee personalities for the most successful results. While one employee may respond well to several phone calls a week, another may find that too intrusive. Finding the balance is the key to getting employees back to work quickly, efficiently and as a benefit to your business.

Generally, there are mainly four different types of employee personality ranging from completely satisfied to completely dissatisfied. The four types are:

Satisfied and committed: Someone who is happy and doesn’t need to be pushed back to work.

Satisfied and not committed: One who is happy, but complacent about being out of work.

Unhappy and passive: One who is unhappy, but does not intentionally make plans to get out of work. However, they can take advantage of the system to stay away longer than necessary.

Unhappy and active: One who is very unhappy with his situation and will actively try to take advantage of the system. This employee doesn’t want to go back, makes up plans to stay out longer, and is actively working on a plan to never go back to work.

Most employees will fall into one of these description categories and respond similarly to different return-to-work strategies. The key is to handle each situation according to the personality of the employees.

Adapt to the personality of the employee

For example, a satisfied and committed The employee can be someone who has not missed a day of work in years, attends company events, and is always considered an entrepreneur. A workers’ compensation claim can be perceived as a setback for this type of individual and little interaction will be required from the employer to get you back to work. In this case, a recommended strategy is to send a recovery card and work together to provide a productive transition job. The employer’s actions in this case, such as aggressive surveillance, can have the opposite effect and make the employee unwilling to return to work. With a satisfied and unengaged employee, a more interactive approach can be used. For instance; invite the employee to seminars or training events prior to return. This will provide an introductory stage to the return to work program.

A committed and unhappy employed in the same situation will require a completely different approach. This type of employee is generally trying not to return to work. Employers of engaged and dissatisfied employees will need to take a much more aggressive approach that includes designing and implementing fraud prevention measures, surveillance procedures, hiring investigators, and having frequent and constant contact with the employee. Without igniting the process of going back to work, the employee will paralyze you forever.

Lastly, the motto is your back-to-work schedule by employee, as you know the employee. A cookie cut program is the least successful program.

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