Your doctor says you can go back to work, but your body is telling you you’re not ready. Now you’re stuck: Do you go back and risk making things worse, or stay home and risk your workers’ comp benefits? Let's get into it!
Before you worry about going back to work, find out which doctor actually cleared you. Was it your treating doctor or the insurance company’s IME doctor? That difference matters.
If it was only the IME doctor, you don’t automatically have to return to work if your own doctor still says you can’t. The IME doctor is hired by the insurance company to give an opinion on your condition. Your treating doctor is the one actually following your recovery, so you should continue following their instructions.
If your employer sends you a letter saying they have a job that fits “the doctor’s restrictions,” don’t immediately accept it or refuse it. Find out whose restrictions they’re talking about and review the offer with your doctor and lawyer. If your own doctor is the one who cleared you, though, that’s a different situation—and simply refusing to go back because you still feel hurt could put your benefits at risk.
If your own doctor clears you to return to work, you generally can’t just refuse because you still feel hurt and expect your checks to keep coming. In a workers’ comp case, what’s documented in your medical records matters. If your doctor says you can work, the insurance company can take steps to stop your weekly benefits if you refuse.
Before saying no, go back to your doctor and explain what your job actually requires—the lifting, standing, sitting, hours, and other duties—and why you’re still having trouble. Your doctor may not have understood the full demands of your job when they cleared you. If they agree you’re not ready, make sure they update the medical report or give you clearer restrictions.
If you’re only partially disabled and your employer offers light duty, that job should fit your doctor’s restrictions. If it goes beyond them, you may be able to turn it down, but you want your doctor’s records backing you up. And if your employer won’t take you back with restrictions, try to get that in writing; your checks may continue, although you may have to look for other work within your restrictions.
Sometimes you’re medically cleared, you genuinely try to go back, and your body just can’t handle it. If that happens, stop working and see your doctor as soon as possible. Don’t wait weeks to get it documented.
Tell your doctor exactly what happened—how long you worked, what symptoms got worse, and why you couldn’t keep going. You want those details in your medical records so there’s a clear paper trail showing that you tried to return in good faith but medically couldn’t continue.
Without that documentation, the insurance company has room to argue that you simply quit, stopped showing up, or left for some other reason. The sooner you get the real reason documented, the easier it is to protect your case and potentially get your checks restarted.
Yes, in some cases. Going back to work doesn’t automatically end your workers’ comp case. Being cleared to work and being released from medical care are two different things, so you may still receive treatment and potentially an award for permanent damage.
In a Schedule Loss of Use case, returning sooner can sometimes mean more money overall. The workers’ comp checks you’ve already received are generally credited against your final award. So if you return sooner, there may be fewer checks deducted from that award—and you’re earning your regular paycheck again at the same time.
And if you return to work but make less because of your injury, you may qualify for reduced earnings benefits. If you’re partially disabled, workers’ comp can pay two-thirds of the difference between your old wages and your new wages.
If you’re being told to go back to work and you’re not sure what that means for your case or your benefits, feel free to give me, Rex Zachofsky, a call anytime.
