• In all states and territories employers are required to establish and maintain a system that includes a formal rehabilitation policy and a return to work (RTW) process to assist injured employees.
• Employers are also obliged to pay for rehabilitation costs and other costs related to workers compensation.
• You can use our LegalPlan™ membership to call for tenders from experienced lawyers who may be able to assist you with your workplace injury planning needs and understanding your obligations under the law.

• Employees have an obligation to report injuries to their supervisors in a timely manner and co-operate in all levels of the rehabilitation and RTW program.
• Employees must also be prepared to undergo periodic medical examinations to determine the progress of their recovery.

• Injury management programs are usually managed by a designated RTW Co-ordinator. This person is required to:
  • assist employers in meeting their obligations under the law;
  • manage the RTW and rehabilitation programs for the workplace as well as individual RTW plans for each employee;
  • act as liaison between:
    • employees;
    • employers;
    • medical practitioners; and
    • the employees compensation insurer; and
  • keep records as required.

• In particularly complex workplace injury claims external rehabilitation providers may be called in.
• External rehabilitation providers are professionally accredited specialists that are experts in:
  • task modification;
  • providing ergonomics; and
  • carrying out health assessments.
• They are usually called in when the type of workplace may cause an employee’s injuries to become aggravated such as an office employee with manual handling injuries. The services of a rehabilitation provider might be needed to have the employee’s workstation appropriately modified. 

• In some cases an employee may be injured seriously enough to become permanently unable to return to their normal duties.
• If this occurs the employee may be permanently moved to suitable duties.
• In circumstances where suitable duties cannot be identified or where the employee is injured so severely that they are unfit for any type of employment the employee may be discharged from the RTW program and after a period of time terminated from employment.
• Before making the decision to terminate an injured employee an employer must:
  • obtain proof that the employee is unable to perform the job they were hired to perform;
  • determine and provide proof that they cannot take any reasonable measures to accommodate the employee’s injury; and
  • check that there is no obligation to provide suitable employment under a workers compensation scheme for their state or territory.
• You can use our Phone a Lawyer service for a preliminary legal consultation if you think you may need legal advice.

• Before making the final determination that there are no suitable duties available for the injured employee an employer should seek out the services of an external rehabilitation provider.
• These providers are experts in modifying the workplace and identifying alternative duties that might otherwise be missed.

• Yes. Employers must continue to engage with injured employees even in the event that their injuries do not allow for suitable duties so that the employer is prepared in the event that the employee is certified fit for work in the future. 

• If the disagreement cannot be resolved internally the employer should engage the services of an injury management consultant.
• The work health and safety regulators for each state and territory will usually have a list of these consultants available on their websites.
• Alternatively the employee can seek advice from the workers compensation tribunals for their state.

If you have any concerns you can use our free and anonymous Ask a Lawyer service to get information specific to your situation.