What is the Return to Work Program?

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What is Return-to-Work?

Complete Hospitality step-by-step guide
Return to Work Program : Official Program L&I Website

Return-to-Work is a program from the Washington State Department of Labor Industries that helps your employees get back to work as soon as possible. This can be done by giving your employees shorter hours, doing different work and assigning light duty tasks until they are fully recovered.

Return-to-Work Guide for Hotels and Restaurants

The Lowdown:

There are many things that can go wrong at a restaurant or at a lodging establishment.

At a restaurant, it could happen in the back-of-the-house. One of your longtime cooks accidentally cuts himself with a butcher’s knife as he is preparing a meal. The wound is deep and cuts a tendon, and he is out of work as he recovers.

It could happen in the front-of-the-house. One of the star members of your waitstaff unknowingly walks onto a wet floor as she’s carrying a meal to your guests. She slips, falls and breaks her arm. Like your cook with the knife wound, she is also out of work as her injury heals.

At a hotel, a maid might trip over a vacuum cleaner cord as she’s cleaning a room, slipping, falling and hitting her head against the side of a chest, injuring her head. She is out of work as she recovers.

It could also happen to a hotel porter, who lifts a guest’s heavy baggage, forgetting to bend his knees, injuring himself as a result. He is also out of work as he recovers.

Accidents like these can and do happen, but for most workers’ compensation claims, employees’ recovery time can be reduced, cutting the cost of claims.