If you have suffered an injury while at work and filed a claim for workers’ compensation, you have access to medical benefits to cover the cost of your care plus you also will be paid two-thirds of your regular salary while you are recovering. At some point, your doctor might believe you can do some work duties, but not all of them. You will be given orders for light duty work. You will take a copy of these orders to your employer. At that time, your employer can offer you light duty work, which you must take if available, or they might opt for you to stay off work until you fully recover and continue paying you two-thirds your regular salary through workers’ compensation. What Is Considered Light Duty Work? The definition of light duty work can be confusing. And, of course, what constitutes light duty is dependent on where you work and your basic duties anyway. But, in general, light duty means that you will be given a job that is less physically demanding than your regular work duties. It means that you might be put into a different role or your employer will modify your present work to accommodate the restrictions imposed by your doctor. Your employer will be given incentives by the workers’ compensation insurer to provide you with light duty work. If no light duty work is available, then you will stay off work until you fully recover. While you are off work, you will continue to get two-thirds your regular salary from workers’ compensation benefits. Examples Of Light Duty Work If you have been injured at work, your employer might have another job role or might adapt your prior job to address your medical restrictions. This is considered light duty work. Light duty work might be a completely different job role or a modified version of your regular job. These kinds of jobs might involve working shorter hours, less physical labor, and slower work. There are several kinds of light duty work, but here are a few examples: Desk job Monitoring surveillance cameras Reporting on job sites Performing maintenance on machines Taking inventory Office tasks How Light Duty Work Affects Your Benefits Your workers’ compensation benefits can be impacted by light duty work. There are some different scenarios you might face if you return to light duty work. Here are some examples: If you make more money or the same amount of money as you did before you were hurt, you will not receive wage payments from workers’ compensation. If your pay is less than it was before you were hurt, then you will receive lost wage payments via partial disability benefits. Here are some things to remember: You don’t have to accept any light duty job that exceeds the restrictions established by your medical provider. If you choose to not take a light duty job that is accommodating to your medical restrictions, your employer can ask a judge to either terminate or modify your workers’ compensation benefits. If there is no light duty job available at your workplace, you can continue to receive your workers’ compensation benefits until you are released to do a regular job. If you are dealing with a workplace injury, schedule a free consultation with a workers’ compensation attorney in your area. Complete the Free Case Evaluation Form today! Additional Resources Is There a Big Risk of Being Fired While on Light Duty? Do I Need to Accept Light Duty Work if My Employer Offers It to Me?
