OAR 105-050-0025: Injured Worker Preference for Light Duty Assignments

(1) Definitions: (a) Agency-at-injury: The state agency that employed the injured worker when the compensable injury occurred. (b) Attending Physician: The physician primarily responsible for the injured worker’s care related to the compensable condition in the workers’ compensation claim. (c) Independent and semi-independent agencies: State executive branch agencies not subject to all of ORS 240. (d) Light duty assignment: A transitional assignment of an injured worker while the worker is recovering from job-related injuries or illnesses to duties within the worker’s capacities and restrictions specified in writing by the worker’s attending physician. (2) If feasible, agencies-at-injury will make light duty assignments for injured workers after an attending physician authorizes a worker to return to work with temporary restrictions that preclude the worker from performing some or all of the worker’s regular job duties. (3) To identify light duty assignments, agencies-at-injury: (a) Where feasible, temporarily modify a worker’s regular job duties by removing or modifying those duties that conflict with physical restrictions specified by an injured worker’s attending physician. (b) If it is not feasible to remove or modify the worker’s regular job duties to be consistent with the worker’s restrictions, the agency-at-injury considers other work the agency may temporarily assign to the injured worker. (c) If no light duty assignments are available within the agency-at-injury, the agency-at-injury may contact the Chief Human Resources Office (CHRO) or other executive branch agencies for assistance in locating light duty assignments. (d) Agencies-at-injury monitor, adjust, or terminate temporary light duty assignments as appropriate. (e) An injured worker temporarily assigned light duty work in another agency remains an employee of the agency-at-injury. (f) CHRO may develop policies to implement this rule. [ED. NOTE: The Human Resource Services Division State Policies referred to or incorporated by reference in these rules are available from the Human Resource Services Division (HRSD).]