Highlighting the Importance of Implementing Retention
Strategies for Ill, Injured or Disabled Employees.

Boca Raton, FL –National Return to Work Week is an opportunity for everyone involved in the workers compensation and disability management process to demonstrate their commitment to helping injured, disabled or ill employees stay-at-work or return-to-work. This week highlights the importance of employee retention and employee ability. What can the employee do? Verses what they can not do – Disability does not mean no ability.

“The stakes have never been higher” said Margaret Spence, founder of National Return to Work Week. “Every day we hear disturbing information about layoffs and downsizing – when company’s layoff employees, what happens to employees who are injured on the job or have illness that prevent them from find new employment. What do we do with these individuals? Are they just forgotten?”

Annually, 4.1 million employees sustain occupational injury or illness – 1.2 million have lost work days directly related to their injury or illness. Employees who are off work for more than sixteen weeks seldom return to the workforce. Employees with permanent work related disabilities are more likely to become unemployable. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 14.0 percent according to the Office of Disability Employment Policy. These statistics prompted, Margaret Spence to submit National Return to Work Week to Chase’s Calendar of Events last April, to her surprise it was accepted and added to the 2009 Calendar.

From a Workers Compensation standpoint – when employees are injured in the workforce there is a monetary reward mindset, a feeling that money is better than a job.  This is the only system that rewards employees to stop working – even when they are capable of returning to some employment. “We allow people to join the ranks of the unemployed for the price of a pick up truck” says Spence.

While most employees who are injured immediately return to work and continue their regular job – there are far too many who we settle out of the system. These employees either move on to a new employer, sometimes repeating the cycle, or they move to the ranks of the unemployed. There is also another subset that move into the Social Security System and become permanently disabled – adding a new burden to an already over taxed system.

From a non-work related disability standpoint – once an employee becomes eligible for long term disability, there may be few options to help the employee return to gainful employment or to encourage the employer to explore job or task modifications that would allow the employee to return to work in some capacity.

“Are there other options? says Spence. “Why can’t we make an effort to implement return to work programs that retain injured or ill employees rather than discarding them from the workforce?” she added “even in a challenging economic environment return to work programs are vital. Employers are not conducting a thorough evaluation of the long-term cost of workers compensation and disability coverage in their termination or retention decisions. Many companies may emerge from the economic downturn is dire financial situations because of the decisions they are making about ill, injured or disabled employees today.”

National Return to Work Week 2009 will bring together employers, employees, treating physicians, vocational experts, insurance, legal professionals and disability providers from around the country to share best practices and exchange information to increase return to work opportunities for ill, injured and disabled employees. Together we can highlight the importance of Return to Work, Stay at Work or Transitional Duty Programs.

The NRTWW Motto – Disability does not mean no ability – injured, ill and disabled employees should not be discarded from the workforce. Nor should we create a system that rewards and allows them to discard themselves from the workforce.

For details and more information about National Return to Work Week, becoming a partner, or participating in a our virtual conference, please visit www.nationalreturntoworkweek.org

About National Return to Work Week – This week highlights the impact of not implementing proactive stay-at-work or return to work programs for ill, injured or disabled employees. It is a full week of national educational and best practices presentations aimed at bringing disability management to the forefront of the national employment retention discussion. National Return to Work will be celebrated annually during the second week of May. Visit our website: www.nationalreturntoworkweek.org for more information and to get involved.

About Margaret Spence, CWC, RMPE – Margaret is the author of From Workers Comp Claimant to Valued Employee – and the founder of National Return to Work Week. She is an injury management expert on a mission to help employers understand the importance of

implementing proactive return to work or stay at work programs. Learn more about Margaret Spence, visit her website at www.margaretspence.com

Chase’s Calendar of Events – Brothers William D. Chase, a journalist and publisher from Michigan, and Harrison V. Chase, a university social scientist from Florida, founded Chase’s Calendar of Events in 1957. Chase’s Calendar of Events today is the most comprehensive and authoritative reference available on special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries and more. Each spring, thousands of new entries are submitted to join the more than 12,000 items that make up each year’s book. Each event listing (where applicable) contains contact and mailing information. There is no charge to be listed in Chase’s. Each new edition appears in late September preceding the year in question. Visit their website – www.chases.com

The SHRM Special Expertise Panel members report emerging trends in specific HR topic areas. They provide expert advice, agree to share, disseminate and use their knowledge to advance the HR Profession. This year’s selection process was unprecedented, nearly 700 members applied for 53 open positions.

Margaret Spence is the President and CEO of Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants, Inc. and WorkCompSeminars.com. She is a Board Certified Workers’ Compensation consultant, speaker and trainer who ranks among the experts in the field of injury management and return to work implementation. For more than two decades, she has managed workplace safety and workers’ compensation claims for Fortune 500 Corporations, Public Entities and small businesses. Margaret is also the author of – From Workers’ Comp Claimant to Valued Employee - Employer’s Guide to Implementing a Proactive Return to Work Program.  

Margaret said she was motivated serve on the Employee Health, Safety and Security Special Expertise Panel because employers are facing Health, Safety and Security challenges that were unheard of a decade ago.  Employers can no longer relegated workplace safety to the Risk Management or Safety Department it is a critical compliance issue for Human Resource Professionals.

“I would like to use my tenure on the panel to help SHRM elevate the importance of linking human resource policies with proactive risk management best practices” Margaret said. Margaret added that creating a definitive link between human resources and safety compliance will put HR Professionals in the forefront of their organizations and elevate the importance of workplace safety, injury prevention and workers’ compensation compliance.

Margaret is a member of the Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach County SHRM Chapters. She is also the VP of Marketing for the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) – Fort Lauderdale Chapter.

New Online Training Provides Employers with Expert Training in Three Core Areas – Implementing Effective Policies, Managing Injured Employees and Strategic Management of Claim Files.

New Online Training Portal Provides Employers with Expert Training in Three Core Areas – Building and Implementing Effective Workers’ Compensation Policies, Managing the Injured Employee and Strategic Claims Management.

New Online Training Helps Employers Learn How to Implement Effective Policies, Manage Injured Employees and Strategically Manage their Claim Files.

WorkCompSeminars.com, the leading provider of workers’ compensation training programs, today announced the launch of its on demand training portal which grants online access to the same robust content offered in their classroom courses. The online training center will offer HR Professionals unprecedented access to workers’ compensation professional development courses. The programs inaugural offerings – Strategies for Building and Injury Free Work Environment and Creating a Written Return to Work Program are now available.

“The best workers’ compensation business strategy is accomplished when employers understand how to navigate the often complex injury management process,” said Margaret Spence, President – WorkCompSeminars.com. “With the launch of our online training portal employers will have access to expert training specifically focused on three core areas – Building Effective Workers’ Compensation Policies, Managing the Injured Employee and Strategic Claims Management. The online course format allows users to train from anywhere and at their own convenience”

WorkCompSeminarsOnline was developed based on user feedback which indicated that HR Professionals recognize that they need additional training in workers compensation but budgets cuts, staffing concerns and time constraints prevent them from attending live seminars. HR Professionals also indicated that the seminar format does not provide them with enough training in our core focus areas. Tapping into our extensive industry knowledge, our courses are built with a combination of formal, self-paced and one-on-one coaching through our course forums, discussion groups, teleconferences and weekly webcasts.  

The online programs provide employers not only access to an arsenal of resources but practical exercises, audio slide presentations and progressive module based course design. Once enrolled, the user has the ability to pause and resume at any point in the course and six months access to the course materials. As an added benefit our courses will allow participant to receive PHR, SPHR, GPHR recertification credits, from the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), if they complete the course review test.

The overall benefits of providing employers and HR Professionals with online workers compensation training programs – the training is on-demand, flexible and at a lower cost than attending live seminars. In addition, the courses provide participants with thorough understanding of workers compensation and it strategically helps those with limited experience make significant advancement in their professional development.

Our comprehensive course catalog is available at http://www.workcompseminars.com/seminars  – Strategies for Building an Injury Free Work Environment and Creating a Written Return to Work Program are available now. To register online or for more information, visit http://workcompseminars.com/seminars  new courses will be added every week.

About WorkCompSeminars.com

WorkCompSeminars.com the leading provider of Workers’ Compensation Professional Development Seminars, Workshops, Online and On-site training programs that link HR with Safety and Workers’ Compensation Best Practices. We help companies build a more successful organization by learning how to strategically align Injury Prevention with Injury Management. Our programs show employers how to create strategic and tactical policies for implementing safety and managing injuries. WorkCompSeminars.com is a Division of Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants, Inc.

Workers compensation expert, Margaret Spence today announced the launch of her free weekly webcast on the BrightTALK Network. The webcast is designed to engage employers on specific hot button exposures in workers compensation and injury management – and best of all the program is Free.

Margaret will share her knowledge and expertise about injury management and provide employer with a forum to learn how to implement proactive policies and procedures. The unique aspect of hosting a show on BrightTALK is the ability to use PowerPoint presentations during the show, said Margaret Spence. Viewers will be able to listen to the program, participate in discussions, post questions and join our discussion forum. They can also listen to my live weekly radio program on BlogTalkRadio which will continue the webcast discussions.”

Upcoming Webcasts:

October 27, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern-time – ADA, FMLA and Workers Compensation – The Proverbial Bermuda Triangle

November 3, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern-time – Impact of the Economy, Layoffs and Lack of Health Insurance on the Workers Compensation System

November 17, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern-time – Waiting to Be Sued – Employers and Workers Compensation Litigation

Previously Recorded Webcasts

Each webcast is recorded, archived and available for viewing at the BrightTALK website – http://www.brighttalk.com/channels/655/view

• Essential Pre-Injury Components of a Successful Return to Work Program

• Seven Essential Post Accident Return to Work Policies

• How do you identify light duty positions?

• I’m Not Coming Back to Work and You Can’t Make Me!

• Workers Compensation Injuries – Impact on Business Profitability

• Ouch, I’m Injured Now What?

• Can Injured Employee Return to Work?

Employers can register and listen live to the show at 2:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. Eastern Time every Monday. Register now at:   http://www.brighttalk.com/channels/655/view   

About Margaret Spence:

Margaret Spence, CWC, RMPE, is the President and CEO of Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants, Inc. and WorkCompSeminars.com. She is a Board Certified Workers’ Compensation consultant, speaker and trainer who ranks among the experts in the field of Injury Management and Return to Work Implementation. Margaret was recently appointed to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) National Special Expertise Panel for Employee Health, Safety and Security. For more than two decades, she has managed workplace safety and workers’ compensation issues for Fortune 500 Corporations, Public Entities and small businesses. Margaret is also the author of From Workers Comp Claimant to Valued Employee – Employer Guide to Implementing a Proactive Return to Work Program.

The Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) is the leading independent, internationally recognized certifying body for the HR Profession. WorkCompSeminars and Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants, was able to complete the rigorous certification process and obtain a 3 year approval to offer continuing education programs for Human Resources Professionals who have the: Professional in Human Resources (PHR); Senior Professional in Human Resource (SPHR) and the Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) Designations.

WorkCompSeminars course offerings are directly aligned with the Institutes’ Risk Management body of knowledge requirements. Human Resource Professional must be able to develop, implement, administer and evaluate internal policies to insured that their companies provide a safe and secure working environment. In addition, they have to know how to limit their company’s exposure to liability and litigation.

Our workshops and seminars are a valuable resource for HR Professionals, who are trying to increase employee productivity and simultaneously eliminate the exposure to occupational injuries. We show HR Professionals how to implement policies that insure that their companies are compliant with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Standards.

Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants, Inc. provides public seminars, on-site training programs and consulting services to companies who want to slash their workers compensation insurance cost, implement injury management, decrease litigation, costly settlements and learn how to incorporate return to work strategies that eliminate lost work days.