The Dismissal of Workers Covered by return to Work Provisions Under Workers Compensation Laws

By Robert Guthrie

All states have enacted provisions that attempt to provide some employment security for workers who are disabled by injury and disease.

Return to Work provisions under most workers compensation legislation characteristically require the employer to attempt to re-employ a disabled worker provided they are able to return to some form of work within 12 months from the date of injury or disease onset. The clear intention of these provisions is to provide some employment security for workers, reduce the costs of compensation claims by enhancing rehabilitation and minimising disruption in the workforce through retraining of new workers.

(Journal of Industrial Relations; vol. 44, no. 4, December 2002)