Conventional wisdom would suggest that cutting Early Return to Work Programs is the best option for organizations already in economic crisis. Why bother to bring injured employees back to work – especially if they don’t want to be here?  They're countless unemployed people who would love this job!

Those opposed to Early Return to Work Program argue that we are spending too much money to get employees who really don’t want to work back into the workforce.

Those in favor of Return to Work Programs argue that they are doing a great job and saving the company money, even if the employee is kicking and screaming through the entire process.

We could argue that Return to Work Programs are viable but stakeholders do not know how to sell the benefits of the program to upper management and they don’t know how to insulate themselves from people who are averse to having a return to work program in place.

We could argue that – not every employee fits into the Return to Work cookie cutter and some to them just need to be sent home with a settlement check.

A case can be made that Return to Work Programs are a relic or novelty that should go the way of the dinosaur – into extinction. 

A stronger argument could be made that employees who are injured and really want to come back to work will show up - without your "Early Intervention" and Return to Work Programs. Making that case that what you do everyday is not necessary because most injured employees fit this category.

This workshop will make a compelling case that what we perceive as "return to work issues" are really human resources problems morphed into workers' compensation.

We will show attendees how to develop and present the strongest business case to keep Early Return to Work Programs viable in their organization. We will teach attendees how to sell success. We will show you how to use raw data to support your Return to Work Program and use the same data to decide when getting the employee back in door doesn't make good business sense. In between all of this we will mesh ADA compliance and FMLA issues as well as dealing with physicians, adjusters and other stakeholders in the workers' comp system to make your program more effective.

What We Will Cover:

• Clearly articulate the pros and cons of Early Return to Work Programs
• Build a business cases that is focused on dollars and cents - savings vs. cost
• We will evaluate the effectiveness of adding all the bells and whistles to your program - is it really worth it?
• What should it really cost to get someone back to work successfully?
• Evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• We will give you a clear idea how prepare a persuasive and logical argument for maintaining an Early Return to Work Program or adding one to your existing workers' compensation injury management process.

Who Should Attend:

Anyone who’s managing workers' compensation return to work programs for their organization. If you can not make the business case for return to work – you need to participate in this program. If you’re stuck in the supervisors hate me because I just told them to take an injured employee back to work – you need to register now. If your company is debating adding return to work to your “things to implement list” – this is a program you can’t afford to miss. If cutting cost is your primary goal and deciding if your return to work program should be on the chopping block - you need to register and hang on for the ride.

Program time:  2 hour Interactive Webcasts