As they receive treatment and recover from their injuries, an employee on workers’ compensation may see their condition improve enough to work part-time or perform some of their job duties. Employers have an incentive to get employees back to work as soon as possible, and they may offer an employee on workers’ comp a light-duty position to accommodate their medical restrictions. An offer of light-duty work triggers various rights and responsibilities for an employee under workers’ compensation. Furthermore, going on light duty may affect an employee’s workers’ comp benefits. If you’ve been offered light-duty work, let a PA workers’ comp lawyer with Calhoon & Kaminsky, P.C. explain your options.
Examples of Light or Modified Job Duties
As injured employees recover from work-related injuries or occupational illnesses, they may reach a point where they can return to work with restrictions. The employee’s treating physician may implement specific restrictions based on limitations caused by the employee’s injury or illness. An employer may offer accommodations or a different job within the company that allows employees to work within their restrictions. Light or modified duty jobs may involve non-physical office work, such as filing paperwork, data entry, or monitoring computer systems.
Common examples of modified or light-duty job restrictions include:
- Restrictions on the number of hours an employee may work in a day or week
- Requirements for more frequent bathroom breaks or placement of the workstation near a bathroom
- Limitations on the amount of weight an employee may lift, carry, push, or pull
- Restrictions on the amount of time an employee can stand or sit
- Restrictions on the distance an employee may walk before needing to rest
- Restrictions on kneeling, bending over, twisting, or other body movements
Employers can accommodate workers on light or modified duty by offering reduced work hours, relieving them from performing specific physical tasks, or providing them with ergonomic tools, equipment, or furniture to support their needs.
What Are the Light-Duty Work Laws in Pennsylvania?
When an employee’s physician clears them to return to work with restrictions, PA workers’ compensation laws for light duty require them to accept light duty offered by their employer that complies with the employee’s medical restrictions. However, the law does not require an employer to provide light duty if there is no available position that complies with the employee’s medical restrictions or if the employer cannot reasonably accommodate the restrictions in their pre-injury/illness position.
Will Light-Duty Work Affect My Workers’ Compensation Claim?
When you go on light duty while receiving workers’ compensation benefits, your light duty status may affect your benefits. Accepting light duty may switch you from total disability benefits status to partial disability benefits status. While on total disability benefits status because you cannot work due to a work injury or occupational illness, you will receive two-thirds of your pre-injury/illness average weekly wage (subject to minimum and maximum thresholds).
However, if you accept light duty that pays you less than your average weekly wage, you will receive two-thirds of the difference between your average weekly wage and the lower wage you receive while on light duty. Furthermore, if you return to your pre-injury/illness job with restrictions at your full pay, your employer can terminate your disability benefits.
Can I Refuse My Employer’s Light-Duty Work Offer?
Employees who refuse their employer’s offer of light-duty work may jeopardize their workers’ compensation benefits since the law requires employees to return to work when their physical condition allows them to, even with restrictions or accommodations. However, an employee can request a hearing before the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to challenge whether a “light-duty” position offered by their employer includes duties that do not comply with the employee’s medical restrictions. For example, an employee can show that the proposed light-duty tasks position requires them to stand or sit longer than permitted by their doctor or to lift heavy objects when their physician has instructed them not to do so.
Forced Back to Work by a Company Doctor? Seek a Second Opinion
Sometimes, a treating physician may clear an injured employee to return to work even though the employee feels they cannot safely perform their duties or perform them without significant strain or stress. Under Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system, an employer can require an injured worker to choose from an employer-designated list of physicians for medical treatment covered by workers’ comp benefits. Thus, treating physicians may feel more inclined to support getting an injured employee back to work as soon as possible, even if their condition makes them uncomfortable returning to work.
Alternatively, an employer may request that an employee on workers’ compensation submit to an independent medical examination conducted by a physician selected by the employer, who may also have an incentive to offer an opinion favorable to the employer’s interests.
Fortunately, workers whose employers pressure them to return to work after an occupational injury can seek a second opinion and obtain another independent medical examination to appeal their employer’s termination of disability benefits to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. A second opinion may convince the Bureau that the employer’s physicians erroneously concluded that the injured employee could return to work.
What Happens If You Get Reinjured After You Return to Work?
Going back to work while recovering from a prior occupational injury risks aggravating that injury and setting back your recovery. If you reinjure yourself after returning to work, you can request to return to total or partial disability benefits status. Alternatively, suppose you injure a different body part or develop a new condition by exacerbating a prior work-related injury. In that case, you might amend your workers’ compensation claim to add your new condition to the scope of your claim or file a new workers’ comp claim for a new injury. It would be a new injury if the worker sustains a new injury event. If it aggravates the existing injury, it would be counted under the same injury.
Contact Our PA Workers’ Comp Lawyers for Help
Have you been offered a light-duty role while on workers’ comp? If so, an experienced attorney can help you understand your rights and obligations. Contact Calhoon & Kaminsky P.C. today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation lawyer to discuss your options regarding your workers’ compensation case.
