OAR 436-105-0500: Insurer Participation in the Employer-at-Injury Program

(1) Insurer participation. An insurer must be an active participant in providing re-employment assistance under the Employer-at-Injury Program with the employer’s consent. Participation includes issuing notices of the available assistance and administering the Employer-at-Injury Program as specified in these rules. (2) Notice of assistance available. The insurer must notify the worker and employer at injury in writing of the assistance available from the Employer-at-Injury Program. A notice must be issued: (a) Upon acceptance or reopening of a claim; and (b) Within five days of a worker’s first release for work after claim opening unless the release is for regular work. (3) Required notice language. (a) The notice to the worker required by section (2) of this rule must be in bold type and contain the following language: The Employer-at-Injury Program provides Oregon’s qualified injured workers help with staying on the job or getting back to work. Because of your injury, your employer may be eligible for assistance to return you to transitional work through this program while your claim is open. Your employer may contact [insurer name and phone number]. (b) The notice to the employer at injury required by section (2) of this rule must be in bold type and contain the following language: Because of your worker’s injury, you may be eligible for assistance through the Employer-at-Injury Program to return the worker to transitional work while the worker’s claim is open. To learn more about the assistance available from the program, please call [insurer name and phone number]. (4) Insurer administration of program. The insurer must administer the Employer-at-Injury Program according to these rules. The insurer must assist an employer to: (a) Get a medical release from the medical service provider that meets the requirements of section (5) of this rule; (b) Identify a transitional work position: (A) The transitional work position must be within the worker's injury-caused limitations and may be created through modification of the worker’s regular work, job restructuring, assistive devices, worksite modification, reduced hours, or reassignment to another job; (B) Unless the transitional work is skills building, the position must be within the employer’s course and scope of trade or profession; and (C) When skills building is the transitional work, the worker must agree in writing to take the class or course of instruction; (c) Process employer wage subsidy requests as specified in OAR 436-105-0520(2); (d) Make worksite modification purchases as specified in OAR 436-105-0520(3); (e) Make Employer-at-Injury Program purchases as specified in OAR 436-105-0520(4); and (f) Request Employer-at-Injury Program reimbursement from the division as specified in OAR 436-105-0540. (5) Medical releases. (a) Medical releases are required for purposes of the Employer-at-Injury Program. (b) A medical release must be related to the compensable injury or occupational disease or, if the claim has not been accepted or denied, the claimed workers’ compensation injury or occupational disease. (c) A medical release must: (A) State the worker’s specific current or projected restrictions; or (B) Indicate the worker is not released to regular work and be accompanied by an approval of a job description that includes the job duties and physical demands required for the transitional work. (d) A medical release that releases the worker to part-time work or fewer hours than the worker normally worked before the injury must specify the worker’s hourly restrictions. (e) A medical release must be dated and cover any period of time for which benefits are requested. (A) The date a medical release is issued is considered the effective date if an effective date is not otherwise specified. (B) A medical release, and any restrictions it contains, remains in effect until another medical release is issued. (C) If a medical release does not specify an end date or follow-up date and no subsequent medical release is issued, and there is no indication that the worker followed up with the medical service provider, the medical release is effective for no more than 30 days. (f) An employer or insurer may get clarification about a medical release from the medical service provider who issued the release any time before submitting the reimbursement request. (6) Required documentation. The insurer must maintain all records and documentation of the Employer-at-Injury Program for a period of three years from the date of the last Employer-at-Injury Program reimbursement request. All documentation must be prepared before reimbursement is requested from the division. The insurer must maintain the following information at an authorized claim processing location: (a) The worker’s claim file; (b) Documentation from the worker’s medical service provider that the worker is unable to perform regular work due to the injury and dated copies of all work releases from the worker’s medical service provider; (c) Documentation of the transitional work that includes the start date, wage and hours, and a description of the job duties; (d) A legible copy of the worker’s payroll records for the wage subsidy period; (A) Payroll records must include: (i) The date of payment; (ii) The dates of work covered by the payment; (iii) The rate or rates of pay; (iv) Gross wages; (v) Whether the worker is paid by the hour, shift, day, or week or on a salary, piece, or commission basis; (vi) The regular hourly rate or rates of pay, the number of regular hours worked, and pay for those hours; (vii) The number of overtime hours worked, if any, and pay for those hours; and (viii) The overtime rate or rates of pay; (B) Payroll records may be supplemented with documentation of how the worker’s earnings were calculated for the wage subsidy. Supplemental documentation may be used to determine a worker’s work schedule, wages earned on a particular day, dates of paid leave, or to clarify any other necessary information not fully explained by the payroll record; and (C) If neither the payroll records nor supplemental documentation show the amount of wages earned by the worker for reimbursable partial payroll periods, the allowable reimbursement amount may be calculated as follows: (i) Divide the gross wages by the number of days in the payroll period for the daily rate; and (ii) Multiply the daily rate by the number of eligible days; (e) Documentation of the time of the appointment and hours and wages of transitional work for any days for which a partial day’s reimbursement is requested after the worker is released for transitional work, or before returning from a medical appointment with a regular work release; (f) A legible copy of proof of purchase that shows an item for a worksite modification or Employer-at-Injury Program purchase was ordered during the Employer-at-Injury Program period, and proof of payment; (g) Documentation of the insurer’s approval of worksite modifications; (h) Documentation that payments for a home care worker or personal support worker were made to the Oregon Department of Human Services or Oregon Health Authority, if applicable; (i) Written acceptance by the worker when skills building is the transitional work; and (j) Documentation, including course title and curriculum for a class or course of instruction, when Employer-at-Injury Program purchases are requested.