Your return-to-work responsibilities

When a workplace injury or illness happens, we’ll help people with work-related injuries and illnesses get back to safe and suitable work and get their employers back to business as usual.

If you are an employerIf you have a work-related injury or illness

You have a responsibility to:

  • Log in to your online services account to report a workplace injury or illness.
  • Get in touch with your employee as soon as possible after the injury or illness.
  • Stay in touch with your employee throughout their recovery and return to work.
  • Try to provide suitable work. Suitable work is work that:
    • is safe,
    • is productive,
    • is within your employee’s functional abilities, and
    • matches your employee’s pre-injury pay as closely as possible
  • Provide us with any information we request about your employee’s return to work.
  • Offer to re-employ your employee if he or she can perform the essential duties of the pre-injury job or other suitable work.
  • Let us know of any disputes or disagreements between you and your employee about their return to work.
  • Co-operate in the return-to-work process. If you choose not to co-operate in the return-to-work process, we may fine you for non-co-operation. Read more about what happens when you don’t co-operate in the return-to-work process.

You have a responsibility to:

  • Get medical treatment immediately after a work-related injury or illness and follow the recommendations of your health-care professional.
  • Report your injury or illness to your employer as soon as possible.
  • Get in touch with your employer after your first health-care treatment to begin talking about your return to work.
  • Stay in contact with your employer throughout your recovery and provide them with information on your progress. Try to touch base regularly and keep a record of when you contact your employer.
  • Work with your employer to identify suitable work opportunities. Suitable work is work that:
    • is safe,
    • is productive,
    • is within your functional abilities, and
    • matches your pre-injury pay as closely as possible.
  • Provide us with any information we request about your return to work.
  • Let us know about any significant changes in your medical condition or income. If you’re not sure whether a change is significant, get in touch with us. You have to tell us about any significant changes within 10 days of the change happening.
  • Significant changes can include:
    • Returning to work;
    • Starting to receive other income or government benefits; or
    • Important updates in your medical condition.
    • Let us know of any disputes or disagreements between you and your employer about your return to work.
    • Co-operate in the return-to-work process. If you don’t co-operate in the return-to-work process, we may make a finding of non-co-operation, which could affect your benefits (e.g., benefits can be reduced, suspended or discontinued).

Our responsibilities

  • Provide you with information to help you understand:
    • what to expect throughout the return-to-work process;
    • what is expected of you;
    • your rights and responsibilities; and
    • who to ask for help.
  • Monitor progress and co-operation.
  • Get and clarify information on functional abilities.
  • Help resolve any difficulties and disputes throughout the process.
  • Decide whether you need our return-to-work services and if needed, provide return-to-work services to help arrange suitable work. This could include worksite visits to evaluate ergonomic and functional work capacity.
  • Make all claim-related decisions.

Using the Functional Abilities Form

We need functional abilities information to help you plan a safe and suitable return to work. The Functional Abilities Form for Early and Safe Return to Work (PDF) provides information about a person’s physical condition and their ability to work. A request for the form should only come from a person with a work-related injury or illness or their employer and should only be completed when planning a return to work.

The treating health-care professional (e.g., doctor, physiotherapist) will complete the form. The health-care professional will identify a person’s ability to walk, stand, sit, lift, and perform other work-related tasks. This information helps identify jobs that a person can perform within the limits set out in the form.

For more information on the Functional Abilities Form, read the

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More information