Written By: Catherine Yancy, Account Executive, Brentwood Services Administrators

“Help Wanted” and “Now Hiring” are “signs” of the current labor shortage economy everyone is experiencing. If one of your employees gets hurt on the job, you want to help that employee to return to work as soon as possible. What you do immediately after an injury occurs and in the following days can make a significant impact on the ultimate outcome of that workers’ compensation claim. Workers’ Compensation and On-The-Job Injury Programs are built around an objective that includes providing care for an employee that has sustained a compensable work-related injury while on the job. The realm of our industry can be complex yet vital, and if you are reading this article, then YOU are someone who can make a difference. 

How can you truly make a difference? A major complaint of injured employees who miss time from work is that no one at my employer cared about me, no one called to ask me how I was doing, or if I needed anything. Put yourself in the shoes of the injured worker and consider how their day may be going or how they are feeling. Empathy makes a difference. It also makes a difference in the language that we choose to use. For example, when speaking with an injured worker, certain words can seem off-putting such as: “claimant,” “denied,” “date of loss,” or “compensable body part.” We must remember that the person on the other end of the phone may believe that if they start hearing those words, it is time to call an attorney from the first commercial they see on TV. For starters, we can choose better language when speaking with others involved in the claim. In claim reviews, practice introducing the injured employee and how they are related to the claim, and then say the injured employee’s name the rest of the time rather than continuing to state “claimant.” This practice can apply to any person involved in the claim as well. Saying someone’s name humanizes the person and helps us to see them as an individual, with a life outside of work, hobbies, parents, a family, a history, and a future. 

Next, take the time to kindly explain the process of the claim and present all alternatives, rather than assume that the injured employee knows what to do. A dialectic must be consistently maintained while practicing kindness. We can help the injured employee by communicating with care while simultaneously pursuing a thorough investigation within the parameters of the law and policy. For example, if a reported claim is discovered non compensable, we can still treat the employee with kindness and compassion while we deny the claim and educate the employee on other potential available options. There is a proper way to deny a claim that may not immediately lead to litigation. When a person feels heard and believes that you hold their best interest in mind, trust is built. 

Tools and resources are available that we may utilize to help make a positive influence on the claims handling process. For instance, there are text message automation platforms that allow us to check in on injured workers and collect feedback. Text message automation can also serve as a reminder of doctor appointments and may be auto translated in the receiver’s preferred language. There are now mental health providers available who understand worker’s compensation and will set a certain number of sessions with the individual to focus specifically on the work-related issues and motivate them to return to work with confidence. There are electronic signature applications now instead of old-fashioned printers and fax machines. Telehealth appointments are offered in certain instances and will be increasingly prevalent in the future. If we begin to utilize the resources available to us that can help establish a track record of returning employees to work safely, we are not only positively impacting that individual, but we are also positively impacting society with increased employee retention rates, a reduction in litigation and increased employer loss mitigation. Your influence continues to positively impact overall mental health and wellness, financial stability, the state of our economy and world that we live in.

In the insurance industry, we do not always see the fruits of our labor, and it can be a thankless job. However, keep in mind that you may positively impact a person’s life by showing empathy, kindness and taking the time to listen. You might encourage a person to keep working at their job with a renewed purpose. Your quick action to direct treatment might save a life. You may have motivated one of your employees to return to the work community when you did not even know they were close to quitting and on the verge of great instability. Your involvement in Kids’ Chance may help offer education to a child of a parent who was killed or catastrophically injured while in a work-related accident. Your participation in the Tennessee Bureau’s R.E.W.A.R.D program may help an injured worker return-to-work with ease. Your leadership in TNPRIMA may motivate someone who is looking to get involved. Your unique role has a ripple effect in the world we live in, and you can certainly make a difference.

If you have any questions or comments for Catherine, feel free to reach out to her at catherine.yancy@bwood.com or call her at 770-654-0261. She would love to hear from you!

Written By:
Catherine Yancy, Account Executive
Brentwood Services Administrators
catherine.yancy@bwood.com 
770-654-0261

Submitted By: Terri Evans, Vice President, EAS Health

As a public Risk professional for over 35 years, I understand the difficulties faced when trying to discover the root cause of issues (a basic tenant in Risk Management). Why distracted driving? Why Monday morning injuries? Why unsafe acts? Why bullying in the workplace? In addition, how can we help employees avoid these problems in the future?

Any incident involving distraction, be it driving or performing a job duty, is by definition due to the employee not paying attention to the activity at hand. But WHY were they distracted? Many times, you will not know, and may have no business knowing, what is on their mind. Financial stress, relationship issues, legal troubles, personal or family illness, childcare shortages, etc. can affect anyone and cause inattentiveness. However, you can address performance issues and offer assistance if they would like to accept it. We are all human; we all have issues. It is often very difficult to compartmentalize our personal problems from our work.

Some issues you or others in your organization have every right to know about – bullying in the workplace, harassment, stalkers, legal difficulties that might impact the ability to perform job duties, drug and alcohol use in the workplace are examples. It is our responsibility to address issues that occur in the workplace. In fact, if we know about and do not address issues such as harassment, we can create liabilities for our employer.

There are many options to provide help to our employees. Governmental entity’s benefits programs usually include health insurance, life insurance, a retirement program and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), which might include financial planning and legal assistance. Many have Wellness Programs that include stress relief, alcohol use reduction, and work-life balance programs that can help tremendously. Health Insurance programs have been required to offer mental health benefits since 2014, and the new Mental Health Parity law requires that mental health and substance abuse coverage be on par with benefits for medical and surgical programs. Life insurance amounts can vary by entity, as can retirement programs. EAPs are designed to help employees in the short term when facing a variety of life issues. Health insurance benefits can provide the care needed in the longer term. Life Insurance and retirement programs allow employees to plan for a successful future.

Risk Management has many roles, and many departmental affiliations, depending on the entity. Some of us handle workers’ comp, some do not. Benefits are included in some Risk departments and not others. We can be a stand-alone division reporting to the Mayor or City Manager, or we can report to Human Resources, Finance, Legal or Administration. Sometimes we have a seat at the decision-making table, but often we do not. So how do we, and why would we want to, impact benefit design?

Look at your workers’ comp data. Do you have a disproportionately large number of accidents on Monday or the first day back to work after a holiday? This could be linked to a high deductible health plan where the employee cannot afford to obtain medical care for injuries they sustained at home. It could also be due to personal injuries that employees do not want to report such as DUI accidents or domestic abuse. Is there a particular employee that is the cause of most of your liability incidents? Perhaps they are having financial troubles and are on the phone with creditors all day, or there are other home-life issues that are occupying their minds. Are your supervisors sufficiently trained to recognize the signs of drug and alcohol abuse? Are there rumors about employees abusing substances or having a difficult time at home? Keep your ear to the ground for rumors of disgruntled employees or harsh supervisors. These folks can lead to bullying or harassment complaints. However, these are employees, too – do they need assistance with issues that will solve their behavior problems? Do you have a way for employees to report incidents like this, or stalking incidents from personal issues? Are you included in the list of people to accept these reports, in case they are uncomfortable seeking assistance from their department? Are you and other department heads trained in how to respond to complaints of this nature? Utilizing the EEOC guidance on investigating complaints is a good roadmap to train those responsible for investigating incidents – and help keep your entity out of trouble.

COVID-19 brought to light many potential mental health issues, and we need to be aware and watching so we can assist our employees where necessary. Having a frank discussion with your benefits coordinator will help you be a part of the solution by creating programs that impact your employees prior to it becoming a Risk Management issue. A strong EAP, communication regarding the wellness benefits available to employees, effective training of supervisors to recognize and respond to issues, and affordable treatment through the health plan will help you help your employees obtain assistance they might need, and therefore reduce overall exposures to your entity in the long run.

Submitted By:
Terri Evans, Vice President
EAS Health
423-276-7475
www.employeradvisoryservices.com