Returning to Work After a Workplace Injury
In a perfect world, you will be able to return to your employer and resume regular job responsibilities after you fully recover from your workplace injury. Unfortunately, your employer may use your time away from work to change your job requirements or even eliminate your position. Even if your job is still available, you may find that the new tasks don't match your job skills or physical capacity.
When to Return to Work
When your workers' compensation doctor decides that you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), you will be allowed to return to your regular job, possibly with some restrictions for light duty in the beginning. Doctors often feel pressured to sign off on MMI before the patient is ready. When you return to work, you forfeit remaining workers' compensation benefits you may be entitled to. As your attorneys, we will make sure your workers' compensation doctor does not rush you into returning before your injuries allow. In addition, you are entitled to seek a second opinion. If you feel your doctor has signed off on MMI before you are ready, discuss the situation with us right away.
Returning to a New Position
Your injuries may not allow you to return to your former job, even after the doctor signs off on MMI. Your employer may want to place you in a different job, one for which you feel unqualified or unsuited. Your boss expects, of course, that you will eventually get frustrated enough to quit. We will work diligently to ensure that your rights are protected and you are not treated illegally in your attempts to return to work.
Vocational Rehabilitation
If your injuries prevent you from returning to your former job, or if your former job is no longer available, you may be assigned to a vocational rehabilitation program to train you for your new job skills or to help you find a job that your disability allows. Vocational rehabilitation counselors often take a heavy-handed approach, in an effort to get you off of workers' comp benefits and back into the workplace as soon as possible. As your attorneys, we will ensure that you are not pressured into a vocational rehabilitation program or new job that doesn't suit your needs.
At the Seigel Capozzi Law Firm LLC, we are committed to helping injured workers protect their rights throughout the workers' compensation process. If you were injured on the job, get the legal help you need and deserve. Contact our offices to arrange a free consultation to discuss returning to work and other workers' compensation issues with one of our lawyers today. From our offices in Ridgewood, we represent clients in the Passaic, Bergen and Hudson County regions, and throughout northern New Jersey.
