Return on Investment: Accommodating an Employees Return to Work after Injury, Illness or Disability

1
Return on Investment Accommodating an Employees
Return to Work after Injury, Illness or Disability

• Patrick Reinhart, Business and Industry Liaison
• Rich Sanders, Alaska Works Program Coordinator
• Governors Council on Disabilities and Special
  Education

2
Who Are We?

• The purpose of the Governor's Council on
  Disabilities and Special Education is to create
  change that improves the independence,
  productivity and inclusion of people with
  disabilities in their communities.
• The Council conducts advocacy, capacity building
  and systems change activities to create change
  for Alaskans with disabilities.

3
Alaska Works Initiative

• Mission Alaskans who experience disabilities
  are employed at a rate as close as possible to
  that of the general population.
• Goal 1 Transform Medicaid programs to emphasize
  employment and meet the needs of working Alaskans
  with disabilities.
• Build the capacity of behavioral health programs
  and home and community based waiver programs.
• Implement strategies to increase work as an
  expectation amongst Adult Public Assistance (APA)
  recipients.
• Facilitate targeted improvements to Medicaid
  programs to support employment of people with
  disabilities.

4
Alaska Works Initiative

• Goal 2 Ensure access to resources needed by
  Alaskans with disabilities to secure and maintain
  employment.
• Provide training and information to increase use
  of the Medicaid Buy-in, Ticket-to-Work, benefits
  counseling and other work-related resources.
• Implement strategies to meet employment needs of
  youth with disabilities.
• Assist people with disabilities to accumulate
  assets. Increase affordable housing,
  transportation and other resources.

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Alaska Works Initiative

• Goal 3 Collaborate with business and industry to
  assist youth and adults with disabilities to
  secure employment in Alaskas labor market.
• Implement strategies to make the State of Alaska
  a model employer.
• Market abilities of individuals with disabilities
  to business and industry.
• Develop strategies to increase amount of Alaskans
  with disabilities in apprenticeships, vocational
  training and post-secondary education.
• Develop policy to promote self-employment of
  people with disabilities.

6
Why Do We Care

• The percentage of people with disabilities in the
  labor force is 22.2 compared with 71.2 for
  persons with no disability.
• The unemployment rate for with disabilities is
  16.9, compared with 9.3 for persons with no
  disability, not seasonally adjusted.
• By most estimates, a vast majority (over 60) of
  persons with disabilities age 18-64 are not
  working and depend upon some type of government
  assistance.
• In Alaska, there are over 18,000 people on SSI or
  SSDI age 18-64 who could work if given the
  opportunity.

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Goals of todays session

• Learn ways to get injured or ill workers back in
  the workplace.
• Learn demonstrated Employer Successes.
• Lean about assistive technologies and job
  accommodations, that are easy and wont break
  the bank.
• Learn about recent changes to the ADA and what it
  means for the employer.

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Facilitating Return to Work after Injury, Illness
or Disability

• Primary Strategies
• Open lines of communication
• Contact with the insurance company
• Reintegration to work
• Flexibility
• Protecting the returning workers privacy
• Support and continuing support
• Sources
• The Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S.
  Department of Labor
• "When Catastrophe Strikes What Employers Can
  Do," SPINAL Column, the Magazine of Shepherd
  Center, Summer 2000
• Dr. Joel Moorhead, M.D., a former member of the
  President's Committee on Employment of People
  with Disabilities, and currently with Disability
  Management Services, Prudential Insurance

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Open Lines of Communication

• Maintain contact with the individual or their
  family (if appropriate).
• Answer questions about leave and benefits.
• Pay them a visit (if possible and appropriate).
• Ask they what they want shared (if anything).
• Maintain contact and keep them informed of
  workplace developments.
• Assure them you welcome hearing from them.

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Contact with the Insurance Company

• Provide the worker with insurance and/or workers
  compensation information and forms.
• Be available to answer questions from the
  carrier.
• Contact the benefits department.
• Shows your interest in the employee and their
  well being and expect them to be treated well.
• If the insurance company provides a nurse
  consultant, ensure they get in contact.

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Reintegration to Work

• Let them know you are interested in their return
  to work
• Discuss possible work modifications with the
  employee and a professional rehabilitation
  specialist (A.T. Specialist, O.T., P.T., V.R.
  Counselor, etc.)
• If changes are being made prior to returning to
  work, make sure the employee is kept informed of
  them.

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Flexibility

• Offer flexible work schedules and methods in the
  early stages.
• Make sure you discuss the length of these
  arrangements and prepare for changes.
• If requested and appropriate send the employees
  mail, memos and informational materials home
  prior to their return.
• Make work schedule accommodations for
  rehabilitation.

13
Protecting the Workers Privacy

• Federal laws protect worker privacy.
• You may share information with persons at the
  workplace if
• the worker's duties or abilities will be
  restricted, you may give the supervisors and
  managers the information about those restrictions
  or accommodation.
• the worker's condition might require emergency
  treatment, you may inform first aid and safety
  personnel about the condition, where appropriate.
• Otherwise, do not share the workers condition,
  health status or physical limitations with
  anyone.

14
Support and Continuing Support

• Be open to co-workers positive suggestions to
  make their colleagues return easier and less
  stressful.
• Provide support to co-workers during the return
  to work process.
• Continue to keep open lines of communication with
  the returning worker.
• Let them know they continue to be a valuable
  member of the work team.

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Types of Job Accommodations

• Workplace modifications
• Environmental
• Ergonomic
• Assistive Technologies
• Work schedule modifications
• Workday adjustments
• Flexible hours
• Changes to daily schedule
• Tele-work
• Work task modifications
• Interpreters
• Readers

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Environmental Accommodations

• Lighting
• Noise reduction
• Temperature
• Level of customer contact
• Access to the workspace

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Ergonomic Accommodations

• Seating
• Access to files
• Lazy Susans
• Computer access
• Heights
• Monitor
• Keyboard/mouse
• Desk
• Access to computer bays
• Office equipment and tools
• Automatic staplers, hole punches, scissors,
• Ergonomic writing tools

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Assistive Technologies Barrier Busters

• Computer Access
• Low Vision / Blindness
• Hard of Hearing / Deaf
• Augmentative Communication
• Environmental Controls
• Aids for Daily Living

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Computer Access and Use

• Voice Recognition
• Screen Reading
• Screen Magnification
• Alternative Keyboards and Mice

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Low Vision / Blindness

• Magnifiers
• Video Magnification
• Scan and Read Software
• Screen Reader Software
• Large Print (phones, copies, labels)

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Hard of Hearing / Deaf

• Personal amplification
• Phone amplification
• FM Systems
• Alert systems
• TTYs
• Video Relay Services

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Augmentative Communication

• Voice output devices (Aug Comm devices)
• Low Tech
• High Tech
• Laptop with voice output
• Dual input devices

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Environmental Control

• Computer based
• Voice recognition
• Switch access
• Noise reduction systems
• Alternative lighting

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Aids for Daily Living

• Talking Watches
• Pocket Magnifiers
• Reminder devices
• Cell Phones

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Resources for Assistive Technologies

• Assistive Technology of Alaska (www.atlaak.org)
• Wisconsin Assistive Technology Checklist (
  http//www.tcnj.edu/caties/documents/ATChecklistW
  ATI.pdf )
• ABLEDATA (http//www.abledata.com )
• Alaskas One Stop Job Center Network
  (http//www.jobs.state.ak.us/)
• Alaskas Independent Living Centers
• Access Alaska (http//www.accessalaska.org/)
• S.A.I.L. (http//www.sailinc.org/)
• Kenai Peninsula Independence Living Center
  (http//www.peninsulailc.org/)

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Job Accommodation Process

• Step 1 Decide if the employee with a disability
  is qualified to perform the essential functions
  of the job with or without an accommodation.
• Step 2 Identify the employee's workplace
  accommodation needs by
• involving the employee who has the disability in
  every step of the process
• employing confidentiality principles while
  exploring ways to provide workplace
  accommodations
• consulting with rehabilitation professionals, if
  needed
• using job descriptions and job analyses to detail
  essential functions of the job and
• identifying the employee's functional limitations
  and potential accommodations

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Job Accommodation Process

• Step 3 Select and provide the accommodation that
  is most appropriate for the employee and
  employer.
• Costs should not be an undue hardship.
• Accommodations selected should be effective,
  reliable, easy to use, and readily available for
  the employee needing the accommodation.
• An employee should try the product or piece of
  equipment prior to purchase.
• Step 4 Check results by
• monitoring the accommodation to see if the
  adaptation enables the employee to complete the
  necessary work task(s) and
• periodically evaluating the accommodation(s) to
  ensure effectiveness.
• Step 5 Provide follow-up, if needed, by
• modifying the accommodation if necessary or
• repeating these steps if appropriate.

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Available Tax Credits

• Disabled Access Tax Credit
• This is a tax credit available to an eligible
  small business in the amount of 50 percent of
  eligible expenditures that exceed 250 but do not
  exceed 10,250 for a taxable year.
• Architectural Barrier Tax Deduction
• Businesses may deduct up to 15,000 of the costs
  incurred each year to remove physical,
  structural, or transportation barriers in the
  workplace.

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Available Tax Credits

• Work Opportunity Tax Credit
• A tax credit for employers who hire certain
  targeted low-income groups, including vocational
  rehabilitation referrals, former AFDC recipients,
  veterans, ex-felons, food stamp recipients,
  summer youth employees, and SSI recipients.
• The consolidated WOTC for hiring most target
  group members can now be as much as
• 2,400 for each new adult hire
• 1,200 for each new summer youth hire,
• 4,800 for each new disabled veteran hire, and
• 9,000 for each new long-term family assistance
  recipient hired over a two-year period.

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The Ticket to Work and Employer Networks

• Employment Networks
• Any agency or instrumentality of a state (or
  political subdivision), or a private entity that
  takes responsibility for the actual delivery of
  services or the coordination/referral of services
  is eligible to apply to be an Employment Network
  (EN).
• Employment Networks can be a single entity, a
  partnership or alliance of entities (public
  and/or private), or a consortium of organizations
  collaborating to combine resources to serve
  Ticket-holders.

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Employment Networks Payments

• New EN Milestone-Outcome Payment System (2009
  figures)
• Payment Type Beneficiary Earnings SSDI
  Payment SSI Payment
• Amount Amount
• Phase 1 Milestones
• Milestone 1 350 for one calendar month 1,
  211 1, 211
• Milestone 2 700/mo. x 3 mos. w/in 6 mos.
  (cumulative) 1, 211 1, 211
• Milestone 3 700/mo. x 6 mos. w/in 12 mos.
  (cumulative) 1, 211 1, 211
• Milestone 4 700/mo. x 9 mos. w/in 18 mos.
  (cumulative) 1, 211 1, 211
• Total Potential Phase 1 Milestones 4,844
  4,844
• Phase 2 Milestones
• Gross Earnings gt SGA (980/1640) 363 a
  month for 207 a month for
• up to 11 months up to 18 months
• 363 x 11 3,993 207 x 18 3,726
• Total Potential Phase 1 2 Milestones 8,837
  8,570
• Monthly Outcome Payments
• Earnings gt SGA (980/1640/month) 363 a
  month for 207 a month for

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Demonstrated Employer Success
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JAN Job Accommodation Network

• Service of the Office of Disability Employment
  Policy
• Free resource for questions about
• Job Accommodations
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
• Confidential
• Maintains a database of previous accommodations

34
Navigating the ADAAA

• Business and Advocate Support
• Passed 9/25/08
• Effective 1/1/09

35
Navigating the ADAAA

• ADAAA Overall Purpose

• Provide a National Mandate for the Elimination
  of Discrimination
• Reinstate a Broad Scope of Protection to Be
  Available Under the ADA
• Broader Definition of Disability

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Navigating the ADAAA

• Definition of Disability Same as the Old
  Definition
• An individual who
• has a physical or mental impairment which
  substantially limits one or more major life
  activities
• has a record of such an impairment or
• is regarded as having such an impairment.

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Navigating the ADAAA

• Definition of Disability Substantially Limits
  Will Not Be As High a Standard
•  No regulations yet
• EEOC is writing them

38
Navigating the ADAAA

• Examples From Old Definition
• Multiple Sclerosis, extreme fatigue ? disability
  (not enough, can still do things)
• Sleep Disorder, 2 ½ hours of sleep ? disability
  (can still sleep)
• Stroke, problems learning new tasks ? disability
  (just glitches)
• Cancer, side effects from chemo ? disability
  (short-term)

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Navigating the ADAAA

• Definition of Disability Mitigating Measures
  Will Not Be Considered
• Things Such As
•  medication, medical supplies, equipment,
  low-vision, prosthetics, hearing aids and
  cochlear implants, mobility devices, oxygen
  therapy equipment and supplies
• use of assistive technology
• reasonable accommodations or auxiliary aids or
  services
• learned behavioral or adaptive neurological
  modifications
•  
• NOT Ordinary eyeglasses or contact lens

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Navigating the ADAAA

• Definition of Disability Major Life Activities
  Expanded Definition 
• Include, but are not limited to, caring for
  oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing,
  hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing,
  lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning,
  reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating,
  working.
•  Also includes the operation of a major bodily
  function, including but not limited to, functions
  of the immune system, normal cell growth,
  digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain,
  respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, reproductive
  functions.

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Navigating the ADAAA

• Definition of Disability Episodic or in
  Remission
• Consider as if active

42
Navigating the ADAAA

• Definition of Disability Regarded As Very
  Broad, No Substantially Limits Requirement
• Subjected to an action prohibited under the ADA
  because of an actual or perceived physical or
  mental impairment whether or not the impairment
  limits or is perceived to limit a major life
  activity
• Does not apply to impairments that are transitory
  (6 months or less) and minor

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Reasonable Accommodation Same As It Was
Navigating the ADAAA

• Employers
• can choose among effective accommodation options
• do not have to provide accommodations that pose
  an undue hardship
• do not have to provide personal use items needed
  in accomplishing daily activities both on and off
  the job
• do not have to make an accommodation for an
  individual who is not otherwise qualified for a
  position
• do not have to remove essential functions, create
  new jobs, or lower production standards

44
Benefits Costs

• JAN Study

• Employers who contact JAN were asked if they
  would be willing to participate in a
  user-satisfaction survey.
• Approximately 8 weeks after the initial call,
  they were contacted.
• They were asked a series of questions about
  their experience with JAN and what occurred after
  that contact.

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Benefits Costs

• 1,182 employers interviewed between January,
  2004, and December, 2006
• 366 employers interviewed between June 28, 2008,
  and July 31, 2009
• Total of 1,548 Employers

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Benefits Costs

• RESULTS
• Over half of accommodations (56) were made at
  no cost.
• Of the 37 who experienced a one-time cost to
  make an accommodation, the typical cost of
  accommodating an employee was 600.
• Only 23 (5) said the accommodation resulted in
  an ongoing, annual cost to the company and 9 (2)
  said the accommodation required a combination of
  one-time and annual costs.

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Benefits Costs
48
Contact JAN
Navigating the ADAAA

• [phone] (V)
• [phone] (TTY)
• http//www.jan.wvu.edu
• jan_at_jan.wvu.edu

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What Can You Do?
50
Upcoming events for Businesses

• Disability Employment Awareness Month
• Career X
• Disability Employment Forum
• November 12 Anchorage

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Let us be your resource!Contact Information

• Patrick Reinhart
• Business and Industry Liaison
• [phone]
• patrick.reinhart_at_alaska.gov
• Rich Sanders
• Alaska Works Program Coordinator
• [phone]
• richard.sanders_at_alaska.gov