This case study highlights how real Kapnick clients have leveraged the return to work program benefits to safely get employees back to work while minimizing disability and medical costs.
THE PROBLEM
Workplace injuries can affect any business, at any time, regardless of industry. While risk management strategies help reduce accidents, they can still happen. When they do, having a Return to Work Program is critical. Delays in returning employees to work increase disability and medical costs and hurt productivity. Moreover, the longer an employee is absent, the less likely they are to return to their job.
THE SOLUTION
Creating an effective Return to Work Program is essential for reducing workers’ compensation costs. To start, adopting a “Zero Culture” in your workplace can make a big difference.
This means aiming for:
- Zero Injuries – The least expensive claims are the ones that never happen.
- Zero Delays – The longer you wait to report a claim, the higher the cost.
- Zero Lost Time – Immediate transitional work reduces costly lost-time claims.
- Zero Errors – Over two-thirds of employers overpay work comp premiums due to errors in classifications, audits, and calculations.
- Zero Fraud – A no-fraud tolerance policy helps identify abusers.
- Zero Litigation – Being responsive and caring toward injured employees helps avoid costly litigation.
THE NUMBERS
Nearly 30% of employees injured on the job lose workdays. With nearly 3 million non-fatal workplace injuries in 2014, this equates to 3.2 workers’ comp cases for every 100 full-time employees.
Having a return to work program in place is key. According to the RAND Institute for Civil Justice, these programs reduce the length of an injured employee’s absence by an average of 3.6 weeks. Even for employees with permanent disabilities, a return to work program reduces time out of work by 12.6 weeks on average.
