Returning To Work After An Injury
Whether your doctor gives you a clean bill of health or your employer needs you back, returning to work after injury depends on your readiness. The law requires you to go back to work after your doctor approves it or risk losing your workers’ comp benefits.
But are you ready, psychologically? When do you need to return to work and resume your normal duties? There are a lot of things you need to understand before you return to work.
Here are things to consider before going back to the office.
Return to Work When You’re Ready
Even the most passionate and hard-working person can get demoralized and incapacitated after an accident at work. Psychological injuries can be more severe than physical ones. You need to heal both physically and emotionally before you resume duties.
If your doctor hasn’t cleared you yet, you don’t need to go back to work, which may interfere with your recovery process. Just because you feel well doesn’t mean you’re ready. The only person that can give you a clean bill of health is your doctor.
Returning against your doctor’s wish may put you in trouble with your workers’ insurance company. In case you get re-injured, you might invite more problems for yourself and your employer.
Don’t fall for the pressure and the frustrations put on you by your employer if you’re not ready. As long as you’re acting within your legal rights, your employer will not do anything if you fail to show up.
What If Your Doctor Gives You a Go Ahead?
So, what if your doctor asks you to go back to work, but you feel you’re not ready? The doctor might be a professional as far as health matters are concerned. However, when it comes to your body, you know yourself better.
The best thing to do when caught up in such situations is to explain to your workers’ comp doctor everything your job entails. If it involves a lot of traveling or heavy lifting, make sure your doctor explains how you will manage all these without further injuries.
You may also need to do an Independent Medical Examination (IME) to ascertain your readiness to resume normal duties. When your IME doctor sees no problem with returning to work, they’ll issue you with a Notice of Ability to Return to Work.
Sometimes your doctor may force you to return to work, but you feel like you’re not healed, and you can’t perform your duties. Failure to do this may get you in trouble, and you risk losing your workers’ compensation benefits.
The best thing to do in search of situations is to get an attorney to represent you. A lawyer will help you fight for your rights and ensure you get an extension until you heal completely.
Communicate with Your Employer
Throughout your healing period, you should never ignore being in contact with your employer. You should keep your employer and supervisors informed about your condition and progress.
When the doctor gives you a clean bill of health, and you’re ready to return to work, the first person you should inform is your employer. Keep them posted about everything, including your doctor’s recommendations concerning your work.
When you stay in touch, your employer will be more convinced that you’re not exaggerating things. They will be more understanding, even in cases where you might not be able to resume your duties immediately after discharge.
Your employer deserves to know the medical restrictions from your doctor and the impact your job may have on your healing process. This way, both of you will be more prepared, and you can agree on a modified duty to keep you productive as you recover.
Don’t Forget Your Return to Work Form
Not everyone understands the relevance of the Notice of Ability to Return to Work workers’ compensation cases. One thing you need to understand about this notice is that the form doesn’t always mean you have to return to work immediately.
The best thing to do as soon as you get this form is to talk to your workers’ comp lawyer. You need someone experienced on legal matters to help you understand your rights in such situations.
Your benefits are not going to end immediately. You receive your Notice of Ability Return to Work, but this is definitely a sign that the workers’ compensation insurance is planning to end the benefits. They will send the notice when they have the information that you’re able to return to work.
Understand Your Work Restrictions
When you’re partially recovered to resume work, you might not go back to the kind of jobs you used to do before. For instance, if your previous duties involved heavy lifting, your doctor may provide you with a list of work restrictions.
Work restrictions after an injury, in this case, means the difference between the work you used to do and the new kind of tasks you can do as you recover.
Depending on your condition, the restrictions may only serve for a temporary period. Once you’re fully recovered, the physician will give you the go-ahead to resume your duties. Sometimes you may have to adhere to the strict restrictions for the rest of your life.
The restrictions laid down by your doctor will reflect the magnitude of your injury. Before you return to work, you should follow up with your doctor to see if there are any restrictions and adhere to them to avoid re-injury.
You Deserve a Smooth Return
Whether you’re fully recovered or partially healed, your return to work should be smooth. You need to resume without any problems. Ensure you understand your rights to avoid any kind of intimidation or foul play with your workers’ compensation benefits. The help of a workers’ comp attorney can always come in handy whenever you feel that things aren’t right.
