The Benefits to a Strong Return-to-Work Policy

The Far-Reaching Benefits to Building a Strong Return-to-Work Policy

Navigating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a crucial aspect of remaining compliant and creating an inclusive and supportive workplace environment. Reviewing processes and goals for accommodations that help employees stay at work or return to work as soon as possible can help identify vulnerabilities.

Start by assessing policies, reviewing documentation and operational practices, and evaluating communication. While many in absence and disability management circles have adopted a “document, document, document” mantra, it is important to ensure the entire team, including managers, directors, and human resources (HR) business partners, consistently adhere to documentation and operational policies. Inconsistencies can surface when accommodation decisions are decentralized and there is a lack of comprehensive training.

Practical Realities

When managers weigh in on accommodation decisions, they often prioritize what’s best for their team rather than considering compliance and what’s in the best interest of the employee and company overall. Having different guidelines for various positions (for example, night shift vs. day shift) or distinguishing between occupational and nonoccupational injuries or illnesses poses significant threats to operational consistency as well as compliance.

For one large healthcare system, reviewing and refining its stay-at-work and return-to-work policies prompted several beneficial changes. The organization, which has approximately 9,000 employees in five large hospitals with separate HR processes and ADA accommodation support, started by reviewing job descriptions (including patient transporters, registration clerks, and cafeteria staff), transitional return-to-work policies, and ADA accommodation experiences.

The next step was to develop an action plan to apply a consistent accommodation strategy across hospital locations. Within 30 days, draft policies were supplied by vocational consultants with updates from the HR and legal teams.

The strategy included revamped policies, vocational accommodation assistance, and specialized equipment recommendations. As a result, there was a 5.8% decrease in musculoskeletal incidence for short-term disability and a 6.5% higher return-to-work rate for short-term disability cases. The cohesive policy framework, standard operational practices, and consistent documentation of efforts from team members with clearly defined roles and responsibilities made an important difference to the outcome.

Policy Considerations

Performing a job analysis and reviewing job descriptions helped the team provide accommodations for time-based requests (changes in schedule, such as transitions from part time to full time or to job-protected time off) and workplace accommodation requests for equipment, work-at-home arrangements, workstation modifications, and job duty adjustments.

While the decision-making process for accommodations varies depending on employee requests or needs, it is crucial to use updated employee job descriptions as guides.¹ A good job description should outline the frequency and duration of physical, mental, and cognitive demands of essential functions so that the description serves as the foundation for a fact-based, individualized conversation with employees. While mental and cognitive functions are interlinked, outlining cognitive demands of a job, which include intellectual processes as well as the ability to learn and remember, should be included in a job description.

When considering accommodations, follow an organizational policy that includes four key elements.

• To be eligible for ADA-related accommodations, an employee should be able to perform the essential functions of a job with or without additional accommodation. Employers would assess eligibility for an employee with a full-time return-to-work goal to distinguish it from permanent workplace accommodations or position change requests.
• Length of an accommodation plan. Typically, the plan lasts for 30 days. However, after a review, it can be extended for 90 to 180 days if an employee is unable to return to regular work but is projected to resume full-time work in their regular job. After the employee has been in a temporary position for 90 days, their hourly rate and benefits may be adjusted as determined by the HR team.
• An employee will generally receive hourly wages based on their pre-disability earnings while performing transitional work, with or without gradual increases in hours. The transitional work department will assume payroll responsibility for the employee though alternative options include:
  • Payroll funded by the employee’s full-time department, which can support an employee’s return to his original job. A potential drawback exists if the team’s metrics are tied to payroll costs. In this situation, the team may bear the expense of a temporary employee while shouldering the cost of a reassigned employee working in a different department.
  • Payroll managed by an HR-dedicated cost center, which allows a transitional work department to benefit from “free” help provided by an employee. A potential drawback is that neither manager has a financial incentive to return an employee to his regular role.
• Outlining roles. A return-to-work or accommodations coordinator reviews each employee’s request, oversees the assignment of positions and performance coordination with managers, and discusses potential extensions of the plan. It is the manager’s duty to assist the coordinator with initial planning, provide progress updates, and contact the HR team promptly when an employee asks for assistance.

While these four elements help most companies, each organization should review its unique needs and policies with its HR team and legal counsel to ensure compliance as well as customization to align with cultural needs.

Developing an effective process for ADA accommodations requires careful consideration and implementation. By assessing the consistency of documentation and operational practices, establishing clear policies, and engaging in open employee communication, organizations can create an inclusive environment that helps employees with disabilities stay at work or return to work when they are able to do so.

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of accommodations ensures their continued effectiveness and fosters a diverse and welcoming workplace. When employees have a deeper understanding of what to expect and how to gather required information, the result is a more effective and collaborative partnership for all parties.

DMEC-Related Resources

• Building a Return-to-Work Program Microcredential Course
• Reasonable Accommodation Process Resources & Tools