Small business Workers comp insurance

What are Transitional Duties

What are Transitional Duties

Kimberly Daise

Transitional duty can share similarities across companies.  Take a look at these 9 points.

  1. Transitional duty is temporary.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. Employees on transitional duty are ineligible for overtime. Don’t ask them or assign them to work overtime.

 

  1. 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.)

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. When employees reach maximum medical improvement, they return to their original positions.

 

  1. 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.