Employees with poor performance often have more costly and challenging workers’ compensation claims than the average employee.

These typically are employees with:

• Histories of attendance problems
• Low productivity
• Quality issues
• Difficulty relating to others.

Many times, these employees should have been disciplined or even fired before they reported work injuries. But once a workers’ compensation claim has been filed, disciplining or firing an employee can become much more complicated, and costly.

For example, you may still be required to pay injured workers benefits for lost wages, even if you fire them. These wage-replacement benefits get expensive fast, ultimately impacting your workers’ compensation premium. If you’ve fired the employee, you no longer have access to an important tool to control these costs — offering light-duty transitional work.

In addition, it is not uncommon for an injured employee who is fired to sue an employer for retaliatory discharge.

What employers can do to prevent problems with poor performers

There are a number of things employers can do to avoid these types of challenges, including:

• Deal with performance issues early. 
  This is the first and most important step you can take. This helps you avoid a situation where an employee has both ongoing performance problems and a workers’ compensation injury. The workers’ compensation claim undoubtedly will complicate your ability to manage this employee. Work with your supervisors to address performance situations. If termination is necessary, do it without delay to lessen the risk that it becomes entwined in the legalities of a workers’ compensation case.
• Follow written policies and procedures. 
  Have a written and well-documented performance management plan that includes disciplinary steps to be taken in cases of misconduct. Follow your policy to the letter.
• Document everything. 
  It can save you from expensive litigation. For example, document contacts with the employee, employee performance issues and remedial actions taken.
• Think before you fire, especially when workers’ comp is involved. 
  You may be faced with a frustrating situation, but an impulsive decision could make the problem drag out longer and become more costly in the end. Discuss your options with your claims representative and your employment law attorney for assistance making the best business decision possible.

More information on dealing with problem employees

For more information on dealing with problem employees, see our:

• Problem employees, situations CompTalk
• How to discipline employees who’ve experienced work injuries blog post
• The four most effective tactics to avoid workers’ compensation litigation blog post

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

As America grapples with the consequences of opioid painkiller addiction, the medical community is finding other ways — both chemical and non-chemical — to help individuals with chronic pain.

Exercise is one of the most simple, yet promising alternatives. It not only promotes healing because it increases circulation, but it also has been shown to reduce your pain level. Studies have demonstrated that exercise is the best way to treat your pain in many cases.

The idea can seem counterintuitive at first, as it seems like exercising will make pain worse, but studies have shown the opposite.

A study published in the journal Clinical Rheumatology showed that programs including aerobic, resistance and flexibility exercises significantly reduced pain in those with chronic pain conditions.

Another study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that a weekly yoga class increased mobility for chronic low back pain sufferers more than other common types of treatment, according to Harvard Medical School .

In some cases, doctors might inject pain relief medication in the area that’s hurting to help patients get to the point where they feel they can exercise.

Other chronic pain treatment options

In addition to exercise, doctors are turning to a number of other options to treat chronic pain, including:

• Other medications and supplements
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends acetaminophen (Tylenol) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin, ibuprofen) as first-line treatment for low back and other types of chronic pain. Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory that’s easier on the stomach than pills.
• Acupuncture
  This traditional practice, which originated in Asia, of inserting hair-thin needles into the skin at certain points of the body is now an accepted, mainstream practice for treating chronic pain.
• Lifestyle changes
  Getting enough sleep, eating healthy, quitting smoking and losing weight can all be effective in reducing chronic pain.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
  This form of talk therapy helps people learn to change negative thoughts and behaviors and improve coping skills so that they can regain function and change their perception of pain.
• Addressing psychological and social contributors
  Pain may originate from a biological source, but psychological and social factors influence how an individual experiences it. Because of this, treating those other contributing factors, such as anxiety or depression, is sometimes used to treat chronic pain.
• Virtual reality
  Studies show that virtual reality technology can be used to reduce all types of pain.

These represent just a small sampling of the many treatments available. While treating chronic pain can be complex, it can make a huge difference in people’s lives. It’s all about helping people regain function so they can do the things they want to do.

Few employers realize just how costly a work injury can be until they experience one at their organization.

That’s because there are so many hidden costs of work injuries that aren’t covered by workers’ compensation benefits, such as lost productivity, overtime costs, and lowered morale among the remaining employees, among others. Not to mention the impact on the injured worker.

When you’re thinking about the impact of work injuries on your organization, and the value of preventing them, the following not-so-obvious costs are worth taking into account.

Overtime and lost productivity

While an injured employee is out with an injury, you may have to hire and train a temporary replacement who is less experienced and efficient at the job. Alternatively, if you choose not to hire a replacement, you may have to pay your existing workers overtime as they cover the injured employee’s responsibilities.

These costs increase when the injured employee has a specialized or unique skill set. It is much harder to find replacements for employees with advanced degrees or the technical ability to run specialized machines.

Increased injury risk for other employees

Employees who cover for the injured worker can increase their own risk of injury due to rushing and fatigue. As a result, one workplace accident could cause a domino effect that leads to injuries among remaining workers.

Supervisors’ time

Work injuries also cost supervisors time. They may have to spend time investigating the accident, reporting the claim, working with their claims representative, implementing corrective action and checking in with the injured worker. They may also have to spend time finding light-duty jobs for your injured employees.

Disruption in the workplace

Immediately following a work injury, there can be a lot of lost time and productivity. Employees may need to stop working to try to help the injured worker, get the attention of supervisors, or get the injured worker medical attention.

Depending on the severity of the accident, you may have to stop work for a few hours or even a few days. This might affect just a few people or possibly your entire com­pany. You may receive visits from outside individuals such as attorneys, the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis­tration, or even the police following an incident, which can further disrupt your work environment.

Equipment losses

Tools or equipment that were directly involved in the accident may have to be taken out of service until investigation and litigation is over. This could mean buying or renting replacements.

Low morale

Following an injury, other employees may become distracted and uneasy as they worry about their own safety and risk of being injured. Employees who witnessed the accident, or who may feel somewhat to blame, might also be dealing with lingering trauma. They might also feel less confident in their supervisors or the company.

An injury can also disrupt the dynamic between your workers. Other employees may be resentful toward an injured worker who is off work or on light-duty, or they may doubt that the employee is actually injured.

Harm to company reputation

If word gets out about a workplace injury, it could harm your company’s reputation. Customers and prospects could get the impression that your company doesn’t take care of its workers. Additionally, your employees may have to field questions or opinions from people outside the company about the accident.

Financial costs to injured workers

Injured workers who, prior to the injury, made more than the maximum compensation rate allowed by their state will take a pay cut if they can’t immediately return to their regular work. Employees who can’t ever work again could miss out on the future wage increases they thought would secure their financial stability. Being injured at work can continue to impact employees financially for years to come.

Costs to injured workers’ families

The families of injured workers often suffer from the same financial losses as the employee, and family expenses can increase, too. They may have to pay for services the injured employee can no longer perform, such as snow removal, lawn mowing and house cleaning.

There are many good reasons to do everything you can to prevent work injuries. Knowing the hidden costs provides you with a fuller picture of all that’s at stake.

Mitigating costs

The best way to avoid the hidden costs of work injuries is to focus on workplace safety and prevent accidents before they happen.

But if an injury does occur, here are a few things you can do to help your injured worker recover and avoid unnecessary costs.

• Stay in contact with your claims representative

  They can help you take a proactive approach in preventing some of these hidden costs.

• Encourage return-to-work

  Getting your injured employees back to work quickly in light-duty positions lowers your claim costs and helps prevent re-injury.

• Check in with injured employees

  Contact your workers regularly to check on their well-being and recovery.

• Communicate with all your employees

  Being open with your employees about protocol following work injuries and offering them support can boost morale. Let them know what your expectations are following a claim.

• Communicate with the medical provider

  Working with your injured employee’s medical provider can help facilitate return-to-work. See our past post on why employers should get to know medical providers to learn more.

Focusing on workplace safety and preventing injuries before they happen will go far to protect your employees and your organization from harm.

Almost daily, reports of opioid misuse and overdose make the news as the opioid crisis continues to effect more lives. In the past few months, studies and research have provided new information about the effectiveness of opioids and the rising toll of the opioid epidemic. For the first time since 1963, the average life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped two years in a row , due in large part to increases in opioid overdose.

A government-funded study has shown that after a year of treatment, opioids weren’t any better than common painkillers . The study measured improving pain related to daily functioning, such as ability to sleep and work. In fact, opioids were slightly worse at controlling pain intensity but had more side effects. While opioids are good at treating acute pain, they are less effective for chronic pain.

A Workers’ Compensation Research Institute study has linked long-term opioid use with later return to work for injured workers . For work-related, nonsurgical, lower-back injuries, long-term opioid prescriptions tripled time away from work in comparison to claims without a prescription.

Other research has shown a 30 percent increase in emergency room visits nationwide due to opioid overdose. Within the Midwest, there was a 70 percent rise. The economic cost of the opioid crisis has exceeded $1 trillion since 2001 . Much of the cost comes from lost wages, lost productivity and health care costs. This doesn’t account for the emotional costs to individuals with opioid addictions, as well as their families and loved ones.

SFM’s commitment to reducing opioid use

In 2014, SFM determined that the increasing long-term opioid use by injured workers was a vital public health issue. SFM began reviewing older claims with long-term opioid use in high doses and recommending alternatives to opioids for newer claims. 

Long-term opioid treatment parameters support SFM in our efforts. In July 2015, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry published treatment parameters addressing opioid use long term. In March 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published guidelines that supported the minimum effective dose and assessed the efficacy of treatment plans that involve opioids.

Both the treatment parameters and CDC guidelines determined that physicians should recommend non-opioid treatment first. If opioids are prescribed, there should be an evaluation of the risk of harm or misuse. When necessary, they should yield not only a substantial improvement in pain but also an increase in function.

After tracking opioid use from July 2015 to July 2017, SFM found that 66 percent of cases with high opioid use either have decreased the dosage or have stopped using opioids completely.

Do you have employees who aren’t fluent in the English language, or are more comfortable with another language?

SFM offers a number of resources to help keep these employees safe and assist if they are injured, including:

• Claims process explanation
  SFM offers a Spanish version of its video for injured workers . The video provides a simple explanation of the claim process so that injured employees know what to expect.
• Injury reporting
  The SFM Work Injury Hotline offers interpreters for more than 200 languages.
• Claims questions
  For Spanish-speaking injured employees who need to ask questions about their claims, SFM offers a Spanish-language message line. They can call (800) 922-5246 and leave a message with their name, telephone number, employer’s name and question to receive a call back with an answer in Spanish. Claims representatives also have the ability to speak to injured workers in numerous languages using a live translation service.
• Posters and forms
  We offer Spanish-language versions of important workplace posters and forms in the resource catalog. Just search for the term “Spanish” to see everything available.
• Safety handouts
  A number of our 5-Minute Solution safety talks have been translated into Spanish, on topics such as electrical power tools , excavation and trenching and slips, trips and falls .
• Safety videos
  Our most popular safety videos are also available in Spanish. They cover topics such as preventing winter slips and falls, lifting properly and avoiding falls in kitchen environments. See our Spanish language video playlist on YouTube to see what’s available.

We are continuing to add resources in other languages. If you have a need, please let us know by filling out our contact form.

SFM employees recently heard the inspiring story of a man who not only overcame a tragic accident that cost him both legs, but used the experience to help others.

Aaron Holm, founder of Wiggle Your Toes, a nonprofit that helps amputees, spoke at the company’s all-employee meeting in October.

Simple gesture leads to serious injury

His story starts on a cold January morning in 2007.

He got a call from his administrative assistant to say she was stuck on the side of Interstate 394 with a flat tire, and help was on the way. Fifteen minutes later, she called again to say her help was called to an emergency and wasn’t coming.

Holm drove out to pick her up, and figured he’d take a few minutes to change the tire while he was there, so that she could get her car to a repair shop. While working on the car, he was hit from behind by a vehicle traveling 55 mph.

Despite the severity of his injuries he was clear-headed enough to coach his assistant, who was in shock, through calling an ambulance.

Family and friends spring to action

As he lay in the hospital in the hours after the accident, Holm remembers thinking about his wife and three young children, and wondering how he’d go on to live a normal life again.

“I had no idea what the rest of my life looked like,” he said.

It didn’t take long before Holm, his family and friends sprang into action to find answers.

Within 24 hours of the accident, they divided into project teams that developed strategies to help him return to a normal, productive life.

“Within 48 hours of my injury, my house was being basically torn apart,” he said. “Ramps were being built, stair lifts were being put in,” and he was able to return home about 10 days after his accident.

Throughout his recovery, Holm found creative ways to speed up his progress. He used a liquid bandage product on his legs before going into physical therapy so that the prosthetics wouldn’t tear his skin and delay future sessions. He installed parallel bars in his basement so he could get in extra practice. He used golfing as a way to learn to walk on his prosthetics.

“My kids motivated me,” he said. “They were not slowing down and I couldn’t either.”

Holm starts hearing from others who lost limbs

He was able to return to his job at an engineering and IT staffing company, and his recovery had been so successful that he was getting calls asking for help from family members and friends of people who’d suffered similar injuries.

One such call led Holm to visit a man in the hospital who had lost both legs to the strep virus.

He’d been hospitalized for six months and was due to be released in a week.

He asked the man’s wife, “What have you done to your house so that he can get in?”

She’d been so busy taking care of their three kids, working full time and visiting her husband in the hospital, it had never occurred to her to start working on home modifications.

Holm was able to make a few calls and get a ramp installed within a day. At that point, he realized he wanted to do more to help people like her. That’s when he decided to quit his job to start Wiggle Your Toes.

Wiggle Your Toes is formed

Holm founded Wiggle Your Toes in December of 2008 to help those who have lost limbs. The organization helps those individuals in their recovery and rehab efforts by assisting with things like home remodeling, getting prosthetics or working with insurers.

In one example, the organization was invited by the Boston Medical Center two days after the Boston Marathon bombing to work with the individuals who had lost limbs in the incident. Most of them are doing well now, he said.

“To this day, we’re great friends,” he said. “We’ve had many of them up here in Minneapolis speaking at our events.”

Holm has also been invited to speak about the organization at the next South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

In addition to his work with the organization, Holm also now works for Ottobock, the manufacturer of his prosthetics, as director of customer engagement. He heads the company’s U.S. Paralympic Committee and he manages the company’s partnerships with other groups like Wiggle Your Toes. He also visits Washington D.C. to educate legislators about prosthetics.

Looking back, Holm says he’s amazed by how far he’s come and what he’s been able to be part of.

“I never would have imagined,” he said, “laying on the side of the road or laying in my hospital bed that I would be telling my story as a success story.”