What happens to an injured employee’s benefits if the physician authorizes a light-duty return to work?
Every effort should be made to return the injured employee to work in a suitable light-duty job. If no light-duty job is available for the employee, the employee continues to be entitled to disability benefits. If the employee remains out of work in a light-duty status for 52 consecutive weeks or a maximum of 78 aggregate weeks, the weekly income benefit can be reduced automatically by law from the temporary total disability rate to the temporary partial disability rate. Also, if the employee has been released to light duty and a light-duty job is available, most employers will expect the employee to return to work. A refusal to return to work in this situation could result in suspension of workers’ compensation benefits. The law allows a 15-workday “grace period” so that the employee may attempt to perform a light-duty job without fear of losing benefits.
Related Questions
- What happens to my workers compensation benefits if I receive a light-duty release from my physician while Im out of work?
- What happens if an employee was provided a severance package which included medical benefits when employment terminated?
- What happens to an injured employee’s benefits if the physician authorizes a light-duty return to work?
