A workers’ compensation “waiting period” is the number of days an employee must be off work before receiving wage-loss benefits.

This waiting period is established by state law, and differs from state to state.

It’s worth knowing your state’s workers’ compensation waiting period and the rules surrounding it, because bringing injured employees back to work within this timeframe whenever possible is one of the most important things you can do to control future premiums.

Bringing an employee back to work before the state’s waiting period ends will keep the claim “medical only,” which means claim costs will be reduced by 70 percent when determining your experience modification factor (e-mod).

Waiting periods and rules differ by state

It’s not always easy to figure out when your employee’s waiting period ends due to factors like weekends or partial days.

Different states handle these issues differently.

In all of SFM’s core states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, days the employee isn’t scheduled to work (such as weekends) generally count toward the waiting period, with one important exception. In Wisconsin, Sundays do not count unless the employee was scheduled to work.

This means in Minnesota and Iowa, if your employee is injured on a Friday, the waiting period would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and benefits would be due on Monday. Therefore, you may have only until Monday to bring the employee back to work to avoid a lost-time claim.

Wisconsin is also the only state of the five where the waiting period does not start until the first full day of missed work. In the other four states, the waiting period starts on the first full or partial day of missed work.

Waiting periods in MN, WI, IA, NE, KS and SD

The following are the waiting periods in SFM’s core states:

• Minnesota: 3 days
• Wisconsin: 3 days
• Iowa: 3 days
• Nebraska: 7 days
• Kansas: 7 days
• South Dakota: 7 days

Days before wage-loss benefits are paid retroactively

State law also defines how many days an employee must be off work to be retroactively paid wage-loss benefits for the waiting period days that were not initially paid.

For example, in Iowa, this number is 14 days. This mean an employee who is off work for 20 days due to a work injury would receive wage-loss benefits for the first three days of time off, but an employee who is off work for 10 days would not.

Again, this number differs by state. The following are the number of days an employee must be off work to be retroactively paid wage-loss benefits for the waiting period:

• Minnesota: 10 days
• Wisconsin: 7 days
• Iowa: 14 days
• Nebraska: 6 weeks
• Kansas: 3 consecutive weeks
• South Dakota: 7 consecutive days

Bringing employees back to work

In many cases, a doctor may allow an injured employee to return to work, but not to their regular job. At times like these, it helps to be prepared with a list of light-duty jobs in advance. For ideas, find lists of light-duty jobs by industry in our blog post Free return-to-work resource provides ideas for light-duty jobs.

If you want to lower your workers’ compensation premium, it’s worth learning about a little number called your e-mod.

Why? Because your premium is determined, in part, by your e-mod — and it’s one factor you can actually manage.

So what does e-mod stand for?

E-mod is short for experience modifier or experience modification factor.

The experience modification factor is a multiplier used to calculate your workers’ compensation premium. It shows how your organization’s workers’ compensation claims experience compares to other businesses similar in size and types of jobs.

If your claims history is average among similar businesses, your e-mod will be 1.0. If your e-mod is:

• above 1.0 it means your business’ claims history is worse than your peers.
• below 1.0 it means your business’ claims history is better than your peers.

An e-mod less than 1.0 directly reduces the premium amount you pay. The lower your e-mod, the greater the reduction.

That’s the short answer. The longer answer is valuable to know if you want to really take control of your workers’ compensation costs.

What goes into the e-mod calculation?

The e-mod usually takes into account three years of claims history, excluding the most recent policy year. For example, the e-mod for a policy period beginning January 1, 2023, includes claim costs for the policy periods beginning:

• January 1, 2021
• January 1, 2020
• January 1, 2019

Who determines your e-mod?

A state or national rating bureau — not your insurer — calculates experience modification factors.

Depending on your state, either your state rating bureau (such as the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Insurers Association or the Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau) or the National Council on Compensation Insurance determines your e-mod. These data collection organizations use statewide claim data to calculate expected losses for different types of operations.

They also calculate individual employ­ers’ e-mods using the claims cost data reported by insurers.

Your data collection organization recalculates your e-mod each year about 90 days prior to your policy renewal date and reports it to you and your workers’ compensation insurer.

Who gets assigned an e-mod?

Not every business is large enough to have an e-mod.

Your workers’ compensation premium has to be above a certain dollar threshold specified by your state before your organization will be assigned an e-mod. This minimum premium amount is usually around $3,000-$7,000.

Which claims costs are excluded from the e-mod?

Not all claims costs are included in the e-mod calculation.

If a claim is medical-only (meaning the employee doesn’t miss any work time due to the injury, or returns to work within the state waiting period), only 30 percent of the claim costs are included in the e-mod calculation. That’s one of the many reasons for a strong return-to-work program.

If the claim is larger, typically involving lost time, there is a discounted rate for losses over a certain amount. This is known as the split point, and is set by each state. For example, in Minnesota in 2023, the split point is $18,500. That means that when the e-mod is calculated, less weight is given to a claim’s dollars over $18,500.

Where to find your e-mod

If your organization is large enough to have an experience modifier and you’re an SFM policyholder, you can find it in three places.

1. The official notice you receive from your rating bureau each year prior to your policy renewal date
2. Your SFM policy information page
3. In CompOnline under the “Policy” tab, on the “Policy information” screen

How to calculate your e-mod yourself

You may want to try to figure out what your e-mod will be following a significant claim, or test out “what if” scenarios.

Each state rating agency calculates e-mods differently, so this isn’t always easy.

The Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Insurers Association offers a free Minnesota Experience Modification calculator . The Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau and National Council on Compensation Insurance (rating agency for Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota) offer similar tools for a fee.

To learn more about the e-mod calculation formula in your state, see the following resources:

• Minnesota: Experience rating frequently asked questions
• Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota: ABCs of Experience Rating brochure

Keeping an eye on your e-mod is a good habit that will help you understand and then work on lowering your workers’ compensation premium.

Learn more in SFM’s E-mods CompTalk .

A workplace injury just occurred. The injured worker received appropriate medical care. What do you do next?

Poor accident analyses can cause more accidents, because they likely do not identify root causes. Without identifying root causes, your corrective actions could simply be guesses. If you’ve prepared an accident analysis plan ahead of time, you’ll feel confident that you’re taking the correct steps to investigate and address the causes, so you can prevent similar incidents in the future.

You’ll demonstrate your commitment to a safe work environment while avoiding injuries and unnecessary financial costs.

Make a plan

To be ready to act when the time comes, you’ll need a post-accident analysis plan. These four steps will help you create a blueprint for investigating that you can initiate immediately following an incident:

1. Determine who should investigate workplace accidents

The right investigator may be the supervisor, who knows the employees involved and the job functions. Investigations could also be led by members of your safety committee, management, safety personnel or a third party.

2. Create a written plan

In the plan, be sure to include:

• The purpose of investigating incidents. Make it clear the goal is to identify causes and make corrections, not to place blame.
• Who will initiate and conduct each investigation, who will review the findings and who will implement corrective action.
• What types of incidents must be investigated. You may decide to investigate all medically treated incidents, or near misses that could have resulted in severe injuries. Many companies with the best loss prevention track records have policies to investigate all incidents.
• When, where and how to investigate for timely and thorough results.

3. Provide training on how to investigate

Teach the four-point approach to accident investigations to anyone you’ve identified as investigators. Use our Accident Analysis Worksheet as a guide.

4. Communicate your accident investigation policy

Communicate to everyone in the company your commitment to investigating and preventing accidents. Depending on your organization, this may be a policy in your employee handbook.

Now you have an accident analysis plan ready to be put into motion after any incident.

The four-point approach to investigation

If an injury occurs, use your plan and this systematic approach to investigate.

1. Collect data

Ideally, accidents should be investigated right away. Talk to witnesses as soon as possible. Take pictures and review maintenance and training records.

2. Identify the causes

By identifying the causes (there could be several), you can reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring. Accident investigation looks at four possible causes:

• Equipment: Is it working properly? Are the guards and other safety precautions present and functioning?
• At-risk behaviors: Were there safety procedures that weren’t implemented? Are safety procedures routinely enforced? Was the employee working alone?
• Personnel: Was the employee properly trained for this particular job? Which shift was the employee working, and how long was the employee’s shift? Was the employee wearing personal protective equipment?
• Environment: Was the work area properly lighted? Were work surfaces and the floor free of clutter? Was noise an issue? What about chemicals or dust? Was space sufficient to do the task? Was the workspace adjusted to the employee’s ergonomic needs?

3. Analyze the findings

Examine the facts and observations. Distinguish between immediate causes and underlying causes. Immediate causes could be things like a broken rung on a ladder or other mechanical failure, or an unsafe actions such as running instead of walking. Underlying causes are things like poor machine maintenance, a missing machine guard, a crowded work area or lack of training.

4. Develop a plan for corrective action

Here’s where you have a chance to learn from what’s happened and take steps to prevent it from happening again. Make recommendations to remedy each of the possible causes you identified. For example, you might suggest changes to machinery, work procedures, employee training, safety process or personnel.

By thoroughly analyzing all of the contributing factors in a workplace accident, you’ll be able to eliminate risks and make changes that could prevent a future injury.

Test your report

Double-check that your analysis does the following:

• It addresses causation and uses the model the organization has selected.
• A person who is unfamiliar with the workplace and the process can understand what happened.
• The report avoids acronyms and industry-specific language that someone outside the organization would not understand.
• The report is absent of guesswork and reports only facts.
• It includes a process for making and tracking recommendations. Recommendations should be assigned to a specific person.

SFM’s Accident Analysis worksheet offers an easy-to-follow checklist for investigations.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Bumps and bruises can happen on the job. Injuries like these are often so incidental they don’t require any medical treatment, and are usually forgotten.

But what if an injury that appeared to be only a bump turned into something more severe?

Most likely, you wouldn’t still have information about the injury on hand. You’d probably also be past state deadlines for injury reporting.

Only about 10 percent of these minor incidents later turn into claims. However, those few could become problem claims if they were not reported early on.

That’s why it’s important to report all injuries, no matter how minor. If an injury requires no medical treatment or lost time from work, it will be categorized as an incident-only report, and have no effect on your injury frequency numbers or experience modification factor (e-mod).

By reporting an incident, you are preserving the necessary information you will need if the injury does later require medical attention or lost time from work. At the same time, SFM does not set aside any reserves for the incident, so the claim is opened and closed in the same day.

How incident-only reporting works

Say an employee bumped his knee. It probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to you or the employee. He told you it hurt a little at first, and that he is now fine. But, as a precautionary measure, you fill out our online injury report form.

You’ll then get a confirmation letter in the mail from SFM’s claims department, stating that SFM received the report, and to contact SFM if the employee needs medical treatment or loses time from work.

Your claims representative may call you to discuss the incident, depending on the nature of the injury. For example, if the incident involved the back, your claims representative would likely follow up, since these injuries can be more involved than they seem.

Tip: If the employee needs medical treatment later or starts missing work, call your SFM claims representative right away. He or she will be able to act more quickly, because the appropriate information is set up. The case can be managed effectively from the very beginning, ultimately reducing the total claim cost.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

In response to feedback from employers and workers, we’re offering a new option when you call the SFM Work Injury Hotline to report injuries.

When you call during business hours (7 a.m. to 4 p.m., M-F), you will have a streamlined report-only option for times when your employee would not benefit from speaking with a nurse. This is a good option for cases where the employee is not available for the call, or has already decided whether to get medical treatment.

The option to speak with a nurse will still be available 24/7.

“We’ve learned that many employers prefer to report all injuries by phone, so we hope this is a timesaver in cases where the employee does not need or want a treatment recommendation,” said Meg Kasting, Vice President, Claims. “We want to make it easy for policyholders to report claims immediately through whatever method is most convenient for them.”   

For times when an injured employee is unsure whether to get medical treatment, the option to speak with a nurse is still available. The nurses are specially trained in responding to work injuries. They will provide a treatment recommendation and also report the injury to SFM.

Calls outside of business hours will automatically be taken by a nurse.

For more information on work injury reporting options, visit our report an injury page. 

Ideally, your employees will let you or a supervisor know right away any time they are injured at work, even if it’s a minor injury.

But what if they don’t? Can you be legally required to report an injury that was never reported to you?

In many states, the answer is yes. If you become aware of an injury by seeing it occur, or even suspecting it, it can be considered “constructive notice.” In other words, you should have known.

This matters because there are state deadlines that limit how much time can elapse between the time you become aware of an injury and when workers’ compensation benefits must be paid or denied.

This means that as soon as you’re aware of an injury, it’s important to report it to SFM so your claims representative can investigate and make a determination on whether workers’ compensation benefits are due.

Following are a few things you can do to make sure work injuries are reported right away at your organization:

• Train your supervisors to watch out for work injuries and report them immediately. Make sure they know it’s their responsibility to report all injuries as soon as they learn of them. It’s not up to the employee to decide whether to report.
• Help supervisors remember how to report injuries through the SFM Work Injury Hotline by hanging posters and through other communications.
• Make sure supervisors and employees know that all work injuries, no matter how minor, should be reported immediately.
• If you suspect that the employee was not injured as reported, it’s still important to report the injury right away. Let your claims representative know your concerns. We have the resources to investigate fraud.

When you report a work injury by calling the SFM Work Injury Hotline at (855) 675-3501, you’ll have the option to let your employee speak with a nurse. This is a good option if your employee is unsure whether to seek medical treatment.

Here’s what happens when you call and choose the nurse option:

1. A nurse will answer.

The registered nurse will talk first with the supervisor, and then ask to speak with the employee.

2. The nurse will ask the employee questions about the injury.

These questions will help to determine severity of the injury and the best way to address it. The nurse uses patented software to assist them in asking injured workers the right questions to determine what type of medical care the employee needs.

3. The employee will get a treatment recommendation.

This could range from self-care to a clinic referral or even emergency treatment. If the nurse recommends self-care, instructions can be emailed or faxed to the workplace.

After the call, the nurse will send the report to SFM.

Injured workers who choose to self-treat can call back for further advice if their condition changes or worsens.

How the nurse service is provided

To make nurses available to injured workers, SFM partners with Medcor, a Midwest-based company that has pioneered workplace injury triage since 1997.

Medcor’s nurses are specially trained in responding to work injuries, and they operate under the supervision of a full-time medical director who is board certified in emergency medicine.

They use software that supports the company’s patented methods for making the best triage recommendations for injured employees.

The Medcor call center is accredited by URAC, an independent nonprofit health care standards organization.

Common questions about the nurse option

Here are answers to some of the questions you might have about the hotline:

• What if the injured employee doesn’t speak English?
  The nurses can access interpreters for more than 200 languages.
• Are third-party administrator, high-deductible and assigned risk plan policyholders included in this program?
  Clients whose claims are administered by SFM Risk Solutions (as a third-party administrator) or Superior Point (for the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan) are NOT included in this program. Policyholders with deductibles over $100,000 can choose whether to participate. If you are a third-party administration client and need to report, go to the Report a TPA injury page. If you are insured through the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk plan, report your claims on the Superior Point website .
• Is there any fee for this service?
  No, it is free for most SFM policyholders to call the SFM Work Injury Hotline. The only exception is policyholders with deductibles over $100,000 that choose to participate.
• What if an injured employee disagrees with the nurse’s recommendation?
  It is still up to the employee to decide whether to follow the nurse’s advice.

If there was an easy way to ensure better medical treatment and a faster, smoother recovery for each of your organization’s injured workers, would you do it?

What if it was as simple as making sure that employees at your organization report injuries as soon as possible after they occur?

Here are four key benefits to reporting work injuries to your workers’ compensation insurer as soon as possible:

• Better medical care.
  Sometimes injured workers are unsure whether they need medical care. That’s why we offer the option for workers to speak with a nurse when you report injuries by phone. This helps prevent both under-treatment and over-treatment.
• Better accident investigation.
  Figuring out what caused an accident is important because it helps you determine how to best prevent a similar one in the future. Investigating an accident can also help bring your attention to the rare case in which an employee is committing fraud. Talking with witnesses and the employee right away will help you get the best picture of what happened, or misstatements in the employee’s story, before memory of the incident fades.
• Better contact with medical providers.
  When you learn about work injuries before your employees seek treatment, you have the chance to be proactive in working with medical providers. You can give the injured employee a work ability report to be completed by the doctor so that you know which work restrictions the employee has, and you can let the doctor know you offer light-duty work.
• Better communication with injured employees.
  Staying in contact with injured employees, and assuring them they’ll have jobs to return to is the number one way to prevent litigation. Injured employees tend to seek out attorneys when they feel their livelihood is in jeopardy. When your employees report their injuries right away, you get the opportunity to assure them right away that they will be taken care of.

Avoid fines by reporting injuries right away

An additional benefit of reporting injuries right away is avoiding fines.

Even if a claim isn’t compensable, insurers — and ultimately employers in some cases — face fines for late denial of liability if claims aren’t reported on time.

Fines range from $100 to $5,000.

Penalties can be twofold. Depending on the state, insurers can be charged both for reporting late and making late benefit payments to injured workers, so reporting late can cause fines to add up quickly. If there is a penalty due to the employer reporting late, the insurer may seek reimbursement from the employer, depending on the state. In some states, the employer may be fined directly by the regulatory agency.

If you question the legitimacy of a claim, still report it right away and let the claims representative look into it.

If you’re like most professionals, you have so much to do each day that some tasks must be delayed for another day. Don’t let injury reporting become one of those tasks. Instead, report right away to save yourself time in the long run and ensure the best outcome for your injured employee and your organization.

Need to know how to report an injury? If you’re an SFM policyholder, visit the Report an Injury page for details.

 This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Concussions increasingly make today’s news headlines, especially in athletes playing contact sports like football. But concussions don’t only happen on the field — they are being reported more often in the workplace, too. And they can be complex and costly to treat.

What is a concussion?

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head or whiplash that results in the head and brain moving rapidly back and forth.

“This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

How serious are concussions when compared with other work-related injuries?

In 2016, 78 percent of SFM’s concussion claims involved lost time from work, compared with 15 percent for non-concussion claims.

Because the duration, symptoms, diagnostic testing and treatment in each case are so varied, concussions can be very complex and costly to treat.

Are there more concussion injuries now than in the past?

In Minnesota, the number of lost-time claims with concussions increased to its highest level in 2018, according to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s COMPACT newsletter . The number of workers with concussions who receive wage loss benefits due to time off work is now 10 times higher than the number in 2006, according to the newsletter. The increase could be due to heightened awareness of concussions among employers and employees.

What are the symptoms of a concussion?

Physical symptoms of concussions may include:

• Headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Balance and visual problems
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Sensitivity to noise and light
• Tingling and numbness
• Ringing in the ears

Workers may report:

• Feeling mentally foggy or slowed down
• Having difficulty concentrating
• Being forgetful or confused

Those suffering from concussions might answer questions slowly or repeat questions. They may be irritable, sad, nervous or more emotional than normal. They may be drowsy, sleep more or less than usual, or have trouble falling asleep.

How long does it take to recover from a concussion?

Most cognitive issues related to mild concussions resolve within 7-10 days and go away completely after three months. However, 10-15 percent of sufferers experience longer-lasting symptoms, often referred to as post-concussion syndrome.

How do I accommodate an employee who has had a concussion?

Since a concussion isn’t a visible injury, employees might seem ready to return to regular work when they really aren’t. It’s important to respect any work restrictions. This could mean offering a shortened work day, breaks or fewer tasks and responsibilities.

The injured employee may be encouraged to rest and may initially need to reduce physical and cognitive exertion. In some cases, reducing work during the initial stages of healing may help the employee’s recovery.

After the employee returns to work, the doctor may recommend the employee avoid driving, heavy lifting, working with machinery or working from heights for a period of time. It’s helpful if you can provide a calm, quiet work area where the lighting can be lowered if needed. It can also be helpful to provide them with a place to rest.

Keep in mind that rehabilitation therapy is key during recovery and may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or a combination of the three, from one to four days per week.

Realize that their thinking, speech and reaction times might be slowed, and they may be less able to concentrate. They probably won’t be as productive as usual at first, and their job tasks may need to be altered. But incrementally over time, the employee should be able to return to normal work.

It’s important to take the condition seriously, but it’s also important to be positive and reassuring with the employee about their recovery. The injured employee may be in a vulnerable state — scared and upset by their symptoms and worried they might worsen in the future. The anxiety just makes their situation worse.

Thankfully, most cognitive symptoms clear within two weeks and most patients recover fully within three months.   

What are the common causes of concussions at work?

Concussions are often related to slips, trips and falls, strikes to the head, or motor vehicle accidents. Inanimate objects, such as falling boxes, might cause a strike to the head. In other cases students, patients or co-workers might strike an employee.

How can I prevent concussions among employees?

To prevent concussions in the workplace, encourage employees to take the following precautions:

• Remove tripping hazards. Make sure walkways and workspaces are free of clutter, cords, puddles of water or anything else that could cause a slip, trip or fall.
• Use proper signage to alert employees of wet surfaces.
• Use handrails when taking the stairs.
• Avoid standing on chairs, desks or tables. Use a step stool instead.
• Use caution when working from heights. Never stand on the top two steps of a ladder.
• If a job requires wearing a helmet, make sure it’s properly fitted and in good condition.

What should I do if an employee suffers a head injury?

If a head injury does occur, and you’re an SFM policyholder, report the injury immediately and make sure the injured employee gets the proper care.

It’s crucial to get a thorough evaluation by a doctor who is trained to assess and treat concussions. Do not try to diagnose a concussion yourself.

For the best outcome, the employee should receive treatment from a provider who has experience with post-concussion syndrome.

If the employee is off work due to the injury, check in frequently to let them know you care about them and hope they feel better soon. Be kind and empathetic. 

You can also provide reassurance, as the employee might be suffering from any number of very concerning symptoms, and anxious that they’ll never be the same again. You can reassure the employee that typically most symptoms resolve in a couple of weeks, and go away completely within three months. 

Try to bring the employee back to work as soon as possible after the employee’s doctor will allow it. This might mean providing a transitional job, reduced hours or other accommodations. 

What are the challenges of managing a concussion claim?

Due to the wide range of symptoms, treating concussions can be complex. It can involve multiple specialists in the areas of neurology, orthopedics and psychiatry.

When a workers’ compensation claim involving a concussion becomes litigated, things get more complicated and costly. The cost of independent medical examinations alone can easily top $20,000, due to all of the different medical specialists needed. And because many symptoms of concussions are subjective, it can be challenging to independently verify the extent of the injury.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Injured workers who are off work due to an injury may also struggle with another health issue – depression.

A study by the Institute for Work and Health of workers who missed at least five days of work due to work-related musculoskeletal injuries showed that half frequently felt symptoms of depression in the year following their injuries.

Of employees who were off work for at least five days, almost 10 percent were diagnosed with depression at some point during the 12 months following the injury.

The workers’ ability to return to work in a reasonable timeframe factored into their mental health.

“Frequent symptoms of depression were more common among participants who were having trouble returning to work,” according to study author Nancy Carnide.

Reasons why employees may become depressed

For many employees, work is more than just a paycheck. It’s a place where they are socially connected and a source of identity.

Take that away, and it’s easy to get to an emotionally dark place, especially when they’re facing struggles in other areas of their lives as well.

Employees who are off work due to injuries may struggle with:

• Social isolation
• Challenges performing everyday tasks like bathing or lifting things
• Relationship stress
• Missing out on gatherings with family or friends
• Guilt or shame over others having to take on more work during their recovery
• Anxiety over losing their job or future earning potential
• Financial stress
• Pre-existing mental health issues
• Chronic pain

Being off work can actually make things worse because they may have fewer distractions and more time to ruminate on these struggles.

5 steps to reduce the risk of post-injury depression

Depression after workplace injury can prolong a workers’ comp claim and delay return-to-work. In some cases, post-injury depression may even be compensable as part of the workers’ compensation claim, but it depends a lot on the specific facts of each case.

Post-injury depression isn’t always preventable, but employers can take steps to lower the risk:

1. Have a strong return-to-work program
   Bringing employees back to work not only reassures them that their future employment is secure, but also gives them a way to feel productive.

   The company can provide a positive, supportive environment upon employees’ return, even if they have significant work restrictions. It’s important to manage the expectations of supervisors and coworkers so the injured employees aren’t made to feel guilty that they can’t yet work at full capacity.

2. Consider your employees’ mental health
   Offer an employee assistance program and make sure employees know it’s there to help them if they’re having struggles in their personal lives. Oftentimes, employees who experience consequential depression had pre-existing depression that was either undiagnosed or diagnosed but untreated.

   Encouraging employees to address any mental health conditions before an injury occurs is not only the right thing to do, but can also stave off lengthy and costly complications in the event of an injury.

3. Encourage good relationships between supervisors and employees
   When employees are injured at work, knowing their employer cares about them and wants them to return can go a long way in preventing anxiety. That said, employees might be suspect of their supervisors’ sincerity if the leaders never seemed to care about their well-being in the past.
4. Stay in contact with employees
   If employees are off work due to an injury, be sure to stay in contact with them to reassure them that you care about them and that there will be a job for them when they’re medically able.
5. Foster a positive work environment
   Make sure employees feel appreciated. Hold all-employee parties or find other ways to have fun and show employees you appreciate their work. Employees who like their jobs will be much more motivated to return to work as soon as they are able.

Recovering from a work injury is difficult enough without the added pain of depression. Do everything you can as an employer to reduce the risk and help injured employees return to health and productivity.