1. I received a letter from my employer offering me a light duty job.
The letter uses the words "suitable alternative employment". What does that mean?
Do I have to take the job?
Basically, "suitable alternative employment" is a
legal term used to
describe a light duty job offered by an employer that you are physically capable of
doing. If you accept the job, then you will receive weekly
workers' compensation for part of the difference between your
average weekly wage from your regular job and the weekly earnings in
the "suitable alternative employment" job. If you refuse the
"suitable alternative employment" job, the
insurance company may file a petition against you in court. If the judge
believes that you were able to do the job that was offered, he or she can issue an order
allowing the insurance company to reduce your weekly benefit to what it
would have been if you had accepted the job, i.e., your weekly benefit
will be reduced based on the difference between what you were paid
in your regular job and what you would have been paid if you
accepted the "suitable alternative employment" job.
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2. Do I have to take a
"suitable alternative employment" job even if my doctor says that I can’t do the
job or I don’t think I can do the job?
You refuse the job at your risk. An employer usually offers
suitable alternative employment after having the job description
reviewed by a doctor on their behalf or by your own doctor. An insurance
company will probably file a petition against you in court if you
refuse the job. A judge will review the job description as well as
medical reports from your doctor and the insurance company’s doctor.
If the judge believes that you could have done the job, then he or
she may enter an order allowing the insurance company to reduce your
weekly compensation payment to what it would have been if you had
accepted the job, i.e., weekly compensation will be reduced based on
the difference between what you were paid in you regular job and
what you would have been paid if you accepted the “suitable
alternative employment” job.
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3. Do I have the right to refuse
a "suitable alternative employment" job if it pays me less than what
I was making before I got hurt?
No. A job is considered "suitable" regardless of what it pays.
If you accept a "suitable alternative employment" job, your weekly compensation
benefit will be based on the
difference between the average weekly wage from your regular job and your
weekly earnings in the suitable alternative employment job.
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4. What happens if I’m laid off while working at
"suitable alternative
employment"?
If you lose the "suitable alternative employment" job for any reason other than your
misconduct, then your full weekly compensation benefit will resume
automatically. This is the protection offered to injured workers who
return to jobs that have been identified as "suitable alternative
employment". In this way, suitable alternative employment offers job
security to injured workers.
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5. I got a phone call from my boss offering me a light
duty job. Do I have to take the job?
If you
are disabled from your regular job, you can only be penalized for not
accepting a light duty job if the offer of the job is called “suitable
alternative employment” in a letter to you. If a job is offered to you
and it is not called “suitable alternative employment” in a letter to
you, then you have the right to refuse the job without affecting your
workers’ compensation benefits.
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6. I returned to light duty work after getting a phone call from my
employer offering me the job. Does this mean that I’m working "suitable
alternative employment"?
No. A return to work at light duty is not the same as a
return to "suitable alternative employment". A light duty job only offers
the protections of "suitable alternative employment" if it is documented
in writing with the Director of the Department of Labor as a return to
"suitable alternative employment". Injured workers who return to light
duty without it being documented as "suitable alternative employment" run
the risk that they would not be reinstated to weekly workers’
compensation benefit if they are laid off. This is particularly true
for injured workers who return to light duty jobs at their regular pay.
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