Managing Work Disability: Why First Return to Work is Not a Measure of Success

Abstract

Studies of the effectiveness of medical and vocational rehabilitation and the disincentive effects of workers' compensation benefits frequently assume that a return to work signals the end of the limiting effects of injuries. This study is the first to test that assumption empirically. The authors use a rich data set on Ontario workers with permanent partial impairments resulting from injuries that occurred between 1974 and 1987 to show that the effects of injuries on employment are more enduring than previous studies indicate. The rate of successful returns to employment, measured by first return to work, is 85%, but the rate of success evaluated over a longer time period is only 50%.

Patterns of sick-leave and health outcomes in injured workers with back pain

“…For example, 28.6% of those who had returned and stayed at work at 6 months experienced at least one additional episode of sick-leave in the following 6 months (Pattern 4-2-3). Overall, we observed considerable movement within Pattern 4 (not yet returned), but the probability of a return to work diminishes as the initial episode of sick-leave lengthens.…”

“…In their review, Wasiak et al report that the rate of recurrence varies form 12.1% in Quebec to 44.3% in England [37]. Two studies of workers who filed compensation claims for back pain in Ontario, Canada find that more than twothirds of workers who returned to work experienced subsequent episodes of sick-leave related to back pain [2,4]. To our knowledge, no study has yet described how injured workers transit in and out of work during the first year after onset of back pain.…”

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Impacts of Recent Reforms

“…The slow, sustained decline in relative at-injury employment is particularly interesting insofar as it suggests that injured workers may be at higher risk of job separations following an initial period of recovery. The distinction between initial return to work and successful return to work and the importance of post-injury job separations have been highlighted by other researchers (Butler, Johnson et al 1995;Boden and Galizzi 2003).…”

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Effects of Recent Reforms

“…The slow, sustained decline in relative at-injury employment is particularly in ter est ing insofar as it suggests that injured workers may be at higher risk of job separations following an initial period of recovery. The distinction between initial return to work and successful return to work and the importance of post-injury job separations have been highlighted by other researchers (Butler, Johnson, and Baldwin, 1995;Boden and Galizzi, 2003).…”