Disability Management Pays!

Many business executives look at workers’ compensation as just another cost of doing business that is controlled by the government and there is not too much that they can do about it. However, the facts are that there are many opportunities to reduce the overall cost of worker’s compensation and disability benefit plans in general.

Here are a few statistics that may surprise you:

Over 50% of employers pay a surcharge to the Worker’s Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in Ontario every year. Some of these employers could reduce or eliminate the surcharge with proper claims management.
Over 20% of employers are misclassified.
Over 30% of employers are not using the cost reduction programs that are available to them within the worker’s compensation legislation.

Minimizing the costs associated with the loss of work time due to injury or illness really begins with a comprehensive wellness program, which becomes imbedded in the culture of the organization. However, even with the best preventative programs in place, accidents can and do still happen. In order to minimize the total cost of a workplace accident the employer needs to be proactive at the time of the initial injury. Unfortunately, many employers wait until the case becomes a problem. Waiting several months or years after the incident is often too late to implement claims cost reduction strategies. A return to wellness begins with the first submission of absence and early intervention will minimize the human and financial impact of disabilities. Our experience shows that the longer an employee is absent from work, the less likely they are to return to work.

If you can’t answer yes to each of the following questions, you need to invest more time in your disability management program:

Do you have a Board accepted return to work program in place?
Could you pass a workwell audit?
Are you in the correct Workers’ Compensation rate group?
Are you using the available cost reduction programs available to you?
Do your internal processes maximize cost control through appropriate claim submissions, follow-up and return to work tracking and documentation?

The scope of this article cannot cover all the in and outs of disability management and the strategies for containing costs but is intended to reinforce the fact that proactive companies are the ones that are more likely to have a safe work environment and the lost time and cost of injuries is minimized, and that will translate into a significant bottom line benefit.