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October 2013 13 I n past articles, I have discussed the factors that impact the expe- rience rating costs of a worker's compensation claim — claim costs, and duration of the claim. Duration of the claim directly impacts the costs. Because of this, employers should do everything they can to accommodate a worker's functional abilities with suitable work, ideally at no wage loss. The goal is to assist a worker in returning to a pre-injury job with the pre-injury employer. If she can no longer do the pre-injury job, then the employer should try to help her return to other suitable employment within the organization. All of these activities are benefi cial to both the worker — helping her return to regular activities and a sense of normalcy following an injury — and to the employer — maintaining a productive employee and helping to minimize the costs of the claim. But what happens when a worker is unable to return to work with the pre-injury employer? What happens if the pre-injury employer cannot accommodate the worker's permanent restrictions and cannot provide suit- able work on a permanent basis? In those cases, injured workers are gener- ally entitled to additional benefi ts and perhaps vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to assist with returning to the workforce. Such benefi ts may include retraining, job search assistance or job placement services, including payment of related expenses. VR services are generally aimed at assisting the worker with returning to comparable employment and mini- mizing or eliminating any residual wage loss. VR services are based on a worker's personal and vocational characteristics, including prior train- ing, education and skills. Many employers tend to back off from active case management when a claim reaches this point, especially if the worker will not be returning to work with the pre-injury employer. Depending on the age of the claim, and whether or not it continues to impact an employer fi nancially, this is not the best approach, as VR services — and the ongoing payment of wage-loss benefi ts while the worker participates in them — can be extremely expensive and have a signifi cant impact on an employer's experience rating. Employers should continue to participate in the claim by doing the following: • Suggest a potential vocational goal for the worker that may result in her being able to re-enter the workforce in a direct-entry occupation, without the requirement for any training. This will help to minimize VR costs. Pro- vide additional information to the workers' compensation board about the worker's prior training, past work experience and transferable skills in order to assist with defi ning an appro- priate VR goal. • Monitor the claim for decisions about the vocational goal chosen by or for the worker and consider appealing decisions about VR ser- vices. Sometimes the compensation board agrees to VR programs that are inconsistent with the worker's personal and vocational abilities, and are therefore unlikely to be suc- cessful. This may happen because the worker requests specifi c training (such as a university program). • Monitor the proposed wages for the VR goal. The purpose of a VR pro- gram is to minimize residual wage loss. Therefore, any program should be focused on doing as much as pos- sible to that end. Consider appealing any adverse decisions surrounding residual wage loss as this may have an impact on your experience rating. Claims management should not end when retraining starts Employers should assist in vocational rehabilitation, even if the worker is not returning to work with the pre-injury employer DAVID MARCHIONE WORKERS' COMPENSATION DAVID MARCHIONE COMPENSATION • When appealing any adverse deci- sions, ensure you observe applicable time limits. Some jurisdictions have different appeal time limits for VR issues. For example, in Ontario, the time limit is 30 days, rather than six months for other claim issues. If a worker is unable to return to his pre-injury job or other suitable employment with the pre-injury employer, VR services can assist him in re-entering the workforce and minimizing the long-term fi nancial impacts of a claim. Employers should be mindful of the costs of those ser- vices and the impact that they may have on the employer's experience rating. Employers should continue to monitor the claim to ensure decisions are being made that will have the best outcome for all parties involved. David Marchione is an occupational health and safety and workers' compensation specialist with Compclaim, a consulting practice of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP in Toronto. He can be contacted at dmarchione@compclaim.com. NEW EDITION POCKET ONTARIO OH&S ACT & REGULATIONS 2013 – CONSOLIDATED EDITION Where do you turn for the latest developments in occupational health and safety law? 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