Some employees injured while working are eligible for vocational rehabilitation benefits under MN workers compensation law. Rehabilitation in the workers’ compensation context basically means assistance in preparing for, or obtaining employment. The fundamental purpose of rehabilitation is to enable injured workers to return to their former employment, and if they are precluded form returning to the pre-injury job, then to allow the injured worker to return to a modified job or gain a job with a new employer. Minnesota Workers Compensation Law defines the scope of rehabilitation as follows: Rehabilitation is intended to restore the injured employee so the employee may return to a job related to the employee's former employment or to a job in another work area which produces an economic status as close as possible to that the employee would have enjoyed without disability. Rehabilitation to a job with a higher economic status than would have occurred without disability is permitted if it can be demonstrated that this rehabilitation is necessary to increase the likelihood of reemployment. Economic status is to be measured not only by opportunity for immediate income but also by opportunity for future income. When evaluating whether a different job would be suitable for the employee for purposes of rehabilitation, consideration is given to “the employee’s former employer and the employee’s qualifications, including, nut not limited to, the employee’s age, education, previous work history, interests and skills.” Minn. R. 5220.0100(34). An employee cannot refuse or quit a particular job simply because the employee would rather do something else. A primary player in the rehabilitation process is a qualified rehabilitation consultant, or “QRC.” A QRC is a professionally trained and experienced person who is registered by the Commissioner to provide a “rehabilitation consultation,” which is the first step in the rehabilitation process. First, an employee will meet with a QRC. If the QRC finds the employee eligible for rehabilitation benefits (which generally occurs when the employee’s physician has taken the employee off work or imposed work restrictions), then the QRC prepares a rehabilitation plan. The rehabilitation plan usually includes medical case management, which involves the QRC attending the employee’s doctor appointments and clarifying work restrictions. It also involves the QRC working with the employee’s employer to see if that employer has work available within the employee’s work restrictions. As an example, if the employee has a 10 pound lifting restriction and that employee’s pre-injury job involved frequently lifting 20-50 pound objects, the QRC would see if the employer had a different job that would be suitable for the employee. If not, the QRC would provide job search assistance to the employee to find that employee a job within the employee’s restrictions.
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Some employees injured while working are eligible for vocational rehabilitation benefits under MN workers compensation law. Rehabilitation in the workers’ compensation context basically means assistance in preparing for, or obtaining employment. The fundamental purpose of rehabilitation is to enable injured workers to return to their former employment, and if they are precluded form returning to the pre-injury job, then to allow the injured worker to return to a modified job or gain a job ...
David Whitney is the author of this article on Minnesota workers comp. Find more information about Minnesota workers compensation here.
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