WC Question Please Help

bbarrett

Employee hurt knee at work had surgery and is know back on light duty. We have been able to keep him busy for about three weeks but work is running out. Do we send him home. Should we out him out on FMLA or just leave it as is him out on workmans comp.

Thanks

LindaS

If you don't already have a policy in place regarding running WC and FMLA concurrent, you need to do so. Once that has been done, notify the EE that any time missed counts against his FMLA allotment. Keep in mind that if this is a compensable injury, if you are unable to provide work for him within his restrictions, he will be able to get Temporary Total Disability payments which then "ups" your exposure to this claim. As a general "rule of thumb", try to go everything within your power to keep the EE at work. I have heard of people coming in to watch safety videos, or doing office type work, just to keep the person there.

bbarrett

Linda thanks. I will make the change to have all WC run concurrent with FMLA. I can not go back and do this for the current employee correct. How long can he stay on light duty. He is still having problems with his knee and has not been released back to full duty. Its been about a month on light duty.

LindaS

While the recent Ragsdale v. Wolverine case allowed an employer to go back and count an employee's absence as FMLA although they failed to notify the employee, it is not something I would recommend, especially in light of the fact that you did not have a policy in place regarding running FMLA and WC concurrently. Start now going forward. As for how long he can be on light duty, that is a determination his physician will make based on his healing. You also have the option, again as long as you have a policy in place, of providing a specific timeframe for ANY light duty assignment. One month is not that long of a timeframe so if it were me I would take a look at my light duty program and make a determination of how long you want to allow ANY employee to remain on light duty. You would also need to determine whether or not you are going to make light duty accomodations for employees injured outside of work. Make sure you have any policy reviewed before implementing it to ensure its legality.

Good luck.