Torch Talk March 2016 | Page 19

Contracts Invoices Financial statements Worksheets maintained for L&I reports As you do your spring cleaning, remember to keep the right records before purging and shredding the ones you don’t need. BBB is offering free shredding April 16, at their DuPont office. Click here for more info! Save money in 2016 by building a return-to-work plan this Spring Are you ready to bring injured workers’ back to work with medically-appropriate light-duty jobs? Many employers are not ready. Spring is a good time to start building your businesses’ return-to-work plan. If you don’t have a strong return-to-work plan, you could be losing money. Returning to work supports injured worker recovery and reduces the financial impact of a workers’ compensation claim on the worker and the employer by helping the worker keep a workplace connection after an injury. A good place to start with your return-to-work planning is to create modified or light-duty job descriptions to keep on file in case of an injury. Other action steps to consider include: • Create a return-to-work policy if you don’t already have one. • • • • • Before an injury occurs, think about what light-duty assignments an employee could do if they were injured on the job. Ask your employees for their input in creating light-duty assignments. Tell new hires that your business has a return-towork policy, so should they get injured at work, you will bring them back as soon as possible. Tell physicians you have lightduty available and want to bring your injured workers back as soon as medically safe and possible. Use the Washington Stay at Work Program to get reimbursed for up to $10,000 to support lightduty wages. TORCH TALK MARCH 2016 • • • • -19-