Wayne County, Mich.

Rather than leaving injured employees to languish on disability, Wayne County, Mich. is allowing them to return to work in capacities allowed by their doctors.

The “Return to Work” program started in 2010 when budget pressure made workers’ compensation claims unavoidably burdensome. At the same time, retirements and layoffs were leaving different departments shorthanded.

On the workers’ side was the inertia that comes with medical leave — the longer the employees are away from work, the more psychologically difficult it is for them and the less likely they are to return.

To combat this, the benefits administration department designed the program to match the restrictions of workers’ compensation laws and allow the injured workers to contribute to the county. In doing so, it gives the workers a sense of purpose that may have been lost while away from work and allows them to earn seniority and other benefits.

“It’s really a win-win,” said Shirley Priskorn, the county’s disability manager. She started Wayne County’s return to work program after overseeing similar programs for several steel manufacturers.

In this case, the injured worker does the work for a position that had been eliminated in budget cuts in a department that is short staffed. That way, the injured worker doesn’t displace a healthy worker, a sticking point with the various unions.

“In Michigan, once you’re on workers’ comp, if you can’t return to work, we’re on the hook for the rest of your life,” Priskorn said. “We should get something for our money.”

The program gives workers a chance to keep their county-provided health insurance, which would lapse after 18 months of disability, forcing those employees to pay COBRA costs.

For the most part, workers try to return to the departments which they previously served. When the type of work involved or the staffing situation makes that impossible, they work elsewhere. The county provides a job coach to help the employee make a transition to the new position. Regardless of what the worker’s wage was before the injury, in the return to work program, each will be paid $10 an hour.

Three employees are currently taking advantage of the return to work program, but Priskorn said nearly a dozen had previously chosen to come back to work that way.

“They rave about it,” she said. “Being around people again, after the isolation of disability leave, really motivates people.”

The program’s costs are covered by the county’s workers’ compensation fund. As for its success, Priskorn said with fewer workers comp claims and a subsequent lower cost, the program is under budget.