What are Transitional Duties
Kimberly Daise
Transitional duty can share similarities across companies. Take a look at these 9 points.
- Transitional duty is temporary.
- Transitional duty and alternate assignments are typically similar to the employee’s original job. Make sure they are as similar as possible so retraining is not necessary.
- Under certain circumstances, the injured employee might be transferred to a nearby location (cross-location, cross-divisional placement) for the transitional duty period, usually at no cost to the receiving location.
- Transitional duty assignments occur during regular business hours. A transitional assignment that’s at odd hours or extended times may appear not be not transitional and can lead to a disgruntle worker.
- Employees on transitional duty are ineligible for overtime. Don’t ask them or assign them to work overtime.
- Transitional duty usually lasts no more than 60-120 days unless granted an extension, based on employee progress. (NOTE: Make sure the policy is flexible enough to meet requirements of the ADA.)
- If transitional duty is available and the employee refuses the assignment, the employer will deny lost wages if state law allows, because the employee voluntarily withdrew by refusing to work a suitable position. Remember the duty must be transitional.
- When employees reach maximum medical improvement, they return to their original positions.
- If an employee reaches maximum improvement and cannot resume the original position, the company can terminate, or offer another position if one is available. Check the state law where you are located.