Every good program seems to be weighed down with paperwork, and a Return to Work (RTW) plan is no different. In this case, the paperwork has a special name: Grab N Go kits. These kits are contained in a large envelope and are designed to be taken along when an injured employee first goes to the doctor, so they need to be developed ahead of time.
A Grab N Go kit contains:
- A letter to the employee’s medical provider, explaining your RTW plan, transitional jobs, and your commitment to get the employee back to work as soon as safely possible.
- A Medical Status Form for medical restrictions. Doctors should have them but it is easy to print one out and include it. Doctors are required to fill these out.
- The job description for the employee’s current job and for available transitional jobs. These job descriptions focus on the physical functions rather than the usual HR perspective; for example, “sitting 50% of the time” rather than “helping customers with returns”.
- First Report of Injury. This is the document that starts the workers comp process, so print it out and include it.
- Incident Investigation Form. The company’s form listing the who, what, where, when, why of an accident.
Have one of these ready to go and make sure that supervisors and front desk people know where they are. Having all the paperwork in one place will save a lot of headache down the road.