Employers and Disabled Workers Both Lose

Saturday, January 17, 2004 | 0

In a desperate attempt to claim savings in the workers' compensation reform package, vocational rehabilitation services, job placement, and related financial assistance were eliminated for California's disabled workers. This action is anticipated to result in the denial of viable assistance to those workers who cannot return to the workplace on their own, and a staggering increase in litigation for workplace injuries. WE NEED PEOPLE WORKING IN CALIFORNIA!

Because this proposal was adopted under AB 227, disabled workers will have no place to turn when their employer cannot accommodate their injury with alternative or modified work. Low wage earners and those for whom English is a second language will be hit hard. Under this law, there will be no return to work program offered by insurers, no job placement program and no retraining services.

Who wins? Attorneys who will sue employers and insurers under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act for failure to provide fair accommodations related to the injury. If you think employers are suffering now from high premiums, wait until the litigation hits-litigation not covered by workers' compensation insurance.

Who Loses? The disabled worker who has nowhere to turn. The employer who will be sued and has nowhere to turn. State government and The State Compensation Insurance Fund, which will have to fund these programs or face massive litigation. AND, legislators that will be in office 2 to 3 years when the question arises: Why did you vote to eliminate all job assistance for California's disabled workers?

The better approach? A simple restructuring of the vocational rehabilitation benefit to direct expenditures to early return to work programs that have a proven record of success. In fact, Legislature already decided to rely on these programs by enacting them as part of AB749 but has not funded them. This is the chance to do so.

States such as Oregon, Washington, and Michigan have had great success with these programs both in returning disabled workers to gainful employment and avoiding staggering litigation and medical costs.

It would be a travesty to allow the workers' compensation reform effort to become another legislative nightmare. On Larry King live, prior to his election, Governor Schwarzenegger endorsed retraining and return to work services as vital components for California's disabled workers. In his State of the State Address delivered on January 6, the Governor has called on the legislature to deliver real workers' compensation reform by March 1. He expressed a commitment to creating and retaining jobs-and the businesses that provide them-must be a priority of the legislature, to restore the state's business climate.

Tell your legislators to restructure, not destroy, vocational rehabilitation by promoting early return to work services and disability prevention programs. Let us all contribute this clear message to work together for sound workers' compensation reform and help our great state of California realize a prosperous economy.

Submitted by George G. Grams, legislative chair, and Jamie Charter, both Professional members of the California Association of Rehabilitation and Reemployment Professionals - www.carrp.org.

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