Employer termination after permanent work restrictions is a common concern for injured workers navigating the workers’ compensation process. When a doctor assigns permanent work restrictions, employers are required to review those limitations and determine whether they can reasonably accommodate them. In some situations, the law allows an employer to end the employment relationship — but that does not always mean the injured worker is without options.
So if an employer doesn’t follow the rules set forth by a judge saying that, somebody has to live within these restrictions, what can the employer be held responsible for then? So, just to make sure I understand your question. Yeah. Individual gets assigned permanent restrictions. Yep. Employer then says we the, okay, so lemme back up.
Yep. When the permanent restrictions are assigned, then the employee has a duty to turn those over to the employer. Sure. And the employer then has 60 days to determine whether they can accommodate the restrictions. And as part of that, they would’ve to pay the individual at least 85% or 90%, depending on the type of injury of the average particular age at the time of the injury.
So oftentimes that’s kind of a opening to an employer to say, based on a business decision, we can’t pay you that amount and put you in a role within these restrictions. Okay. So they would legally separate or terminate the employment so then they can absolutely. They can fire and have no repercussions?
Correct. Okay. The work comp carrier might have repercussions if the claims for retraining or future loss wages are brought. Okay. Gotcha. The employer is okay to do that. Okay. Yeah. So.
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