Fitness-For-Duty and Return-To-Work Evaluations

Occu-Med combines: a) knowledge of the legal constraints within which Fitness-For-Duty & Return-To-Work decisions must be made, b) a thorough knowledge of the essential physical and environmental components of the jobs in question, and; c) the medical expertise to gather all necessary and appropriate medical information upon which to base a placement or fitness-for-duty recommendation.

Fitness-for-duty evaluations of current employees returning to work following injury or with declining health brought on by injury or by aging has become a significant aspect of Occu-Med’s service. We evaluate the employee’s specific situation and develop a plan to assure that full and adequate medical and job information is available to allow for a correct and legally defensible determination of his/her ability to continue performing the job or to return to the job at either full or modified duty.

The fitness-for-duty evaluation:

• Begins with an assessment of the factors causing the need for the evaluation. In most cases, a Job Profile for the job in question has been developed previously, so there is a thorough understanding of the specific essential duties of the job in question. Information relating to the other pertinent case specific factors is then obtained as needed.
• Occu-Med then prepares a document, to be made available to the appropriate physician or physicians, requesting the specific, appropriate medical information that will be necessary to determine whether the employee continues to be an appropriate placement in the job, with or without restrictions.
• When such medical information is submitted, our consulting physicians evaluate it in conjunction with the requirements of the job to make a recommendation to the agency.

If the recommendation is that the employee be retained in, or returned to, the job with work accommodations or restrictions:

• Occu-Med prepares an Employment Agreement to be signed by the employee setting forth specifically the accommodations being made for the employee.
• If a negative placement or return recommendation is made an appropriate med-legal document is provided outlining the reason[s] for the recommendation.

Thousands of such fitness-for-duty recommendations have been made to our clients, allowing for the efficient and appropriate transition of employees back into the workplace and resulting in a significant savings in workers’ compensation costs for those clients.