What You Need to Know About Light-duty Work Restrictions After a Workplace Injury

Workplace injuries can be highly disruptive to your professional and personal life. To make matters worse, if you have been injured at work, the path back to health and normalcy can be complicated. Many workers’ compensation cases result in doctors requiring patients to be placed on light-duty restrictions upon returning to their jobs.

These restrictions help ensure that your role is less physically demanding than your preinjury role. Nonetheless, light-duty work often comes with a flurry of questions, risks, and decisions you should be aware of. We will cover the definition of light duty, how restrictions work, your legal rights, and how you can protect yourself.

What is light-duty work?

Light-duty work refers to a modified work assignment designed to accommodate your medical restrictions. The goal of adjusting the responsibilities and duties of your position is to allow you to safely return to work while you recover. Common modifications include, but are not limited to:

• Reduced lifting, bending, twisting, or carrying
• Limited standing or walking
• Shorter shifts
• More or longer breaks
• Office tasks or administrative work
• Avoiding physically taxing tasks like repetition or heavy exertion

It is worth mentioning that the employer does not always have to provide light-duty roles. If a role does not exist or the employer cannot reasonably create one, they are not required to offer alternative work. As a result, it may be necessary to recover at home until you have received medical clearance to resume your regular job.

How doctors set restrictions and how they matter

The role of your treating physician

Your doctor will likely provide a detailed list and explanation of what you can and cannot do. These medical restrictions are based on your particular workplace injury. For example, you may be limited to lifting no more than 20 pounds or standing for no more than two hours at a time. Whatever the established limitations, they will be relied upon as the basis for an offer of light duty. Employers and insurance companies alike must respect the medically certified prohibitions.

In the event your employer offers work that does not comply with your doctor’s orders, you generally have the right to decline without penalty. Accepting work that exceeds restrictions can put you at risk for aggravating your injury. On the other hand, turning down a position that is within what your doctor has cleared you to do may jeopardize your benefits.

Suitability and good-faith offers

Do not assume every light-duty assignment is valid. The employer may offer a seemingly respectable offer, but it turns out not to meet your requirements. To be considered a “good-faith” offer, a few criteria must be met:

• The offer must comply with your doctor’s recommendations.
• The offer should be reasonable in terms of location and schedule. The proposed shift and distance must be fairly similar to your original job.
• The employer must have genuinely structured the assignment as modified work, rather than a formality.

Get everything in writing

Disputes surrounding offers often arise from unclear restrictions or ambiguous terms in the offer. Hence, clarity in both the doctor’s orders and the job description is critical.

Ensure you obtain your doctor’s recommendations in writing. Additionally, request a written job description that spells out your job title, duties, schedule, and location, considering your medical restrictions. These types of documentation can serve as evidence of noncompliance.

What happens when you accept or refuse benefits?

Accepting suitable light-duty

After you agree to a light-duty job, you may continue receiving medical benefits. Depending on how much you earn in your revised role, your disability (wage-loss) benefits may be reduced, or you may lose them altogether. If the light-duty income is equal to or exceeds your preinjury pay, your disability benefits may be suspended. However, if the light-duty income is less than your preinjury pay, you might receive partial benefits to help cover the difference.

Even if you go back to work, your workers’ compensation claim can continue. Yet, you can expect your wage-loss benefits to be adjusted accordingly.

Refusing a suitable offer

Declining a light-duty job that aligns with your medical restrictions and satisfies the requirements of a valid offer presents financial and legal consequences such as suspension of your temporary wage-loss benefits. Medical benefits may still continue if otherwise owed.

If you have a compelling reason to reject the light-duty offer, you should document your rationale and obtain supporting medical documentation from your doctor. Common reasons for refusal may include exceeding restrictions, performing dangerous tasks, or substantial changes in duties.

No light-duty offered

After your workplace injury, if there is no suitable position available for you to return to work, you may still receive wage-loss benefits. You should thoroughly document your attempts to get back to work, in addition to clearly and consistently communicating with your employer and doctor. If your employer cannot accommodate your limitations, your claim may hinge more on temporary total disability benefits until your case has settled.

Common disputes and issues to watch out for

Meaningless assignments

Some employers view light-duty assignments as a formality. In turn, they may intentionally designate tasks that are trivial or irrelevant, like filing unimportant papers or sitting at a desk with nothing to do. Most of the time, this behavior is intended to bait you into limiting or declining your benefits.

Duty creep

After accepting a light-duty assignment, your employer may sneak in tasks that surpass your restrictions. Monitoring and documenting your assignment can help you identify any gradual creep. At which point, you should push back against tasks that are outside of your medical limits.

Travel, schedule, or shift changes

If your commute increases dramatically or if you are shifted to an entirely different schedule, that alone may not be enough to challenge the light-duty offer.  What matters is whether duties fit your medical restrictions and what you earn. If you want to challenge the offer, be sure to compare your time spent commuting and your schedules, as these substantial changes can cause additional burden or hardship in addition to your injury.

Retaliation

Typically, you cannot be punished for asserting your rights by filing a workers’ compensation claim. Punishment can look like changes in your hours, a demotion, or even termination. If your employer retaliates against you, you may have a separate legal recourse, such as a discrimination or retaliation claim.

How light duty fits into your broader case

The way you handle your light-duty assignment may influence employment negotiations down the road. Many times, workers’ compensation claims proceed to further stages:

• Maximum medical movement
• Permanent impairment or disability rating
• Return to full duty or job change
• Settlement or hearing

What can you do now?

Safe and suitable light duty can serve as a bridge between workplace injury and complete recovery. Some of the most important things are knowing your legal rights, understanding your medical restrictions, and advocating for clarity and fairness. Do not give in to vague offers or pressure from your employer, as you may inadvertently hurt your case.

If you have been hurt at work, schedule an appointment with us to talk about your options. During our consultation, we can walk you through what light duty may look like for you, evaluation of light duty offers, and how to protect your benefits. Personalized advice tailored to your situation can help ensure your return to work does not come at a cost to your health or your rights.