What Are the Vocational Rehabilitation Rights of Injured Workers?

Vocational rehabilitation is the process of rebuilding work skills as part of recovering from an injury or illness. Sometimes an injured individual can eventually return to his or her previous job. If an injury places long-term or permanent limitations upon the person, retraining for a new type of job may be necessary. Depending upon the law of your state, if you require vocational rehabilitation after a job injury or industrial illness, your employer or its workers’ compensation insurer, or the state, or some combination of these three resources may be required to pay for your vocational rehabilitation services as part of your workers’ compensation benefits.

If you or a loved one was injured or sickened on the job, consult an experienced worker’s compensation attorney as soon as possible at Rose Klein & Marias LLP, to learn what types of workers’ compensation benefits are available, including vocational rehabilitation.

Examples of vocational rehabilitation

The amount and types of vocational rehabilitation provided to injured employees vary from state to state. One of the vocational-rehabilitation services to which an injured worker may be entitled include education and tuition payments for retraining.

Employer responsibility

Employers or their workers’ compensation carriers may have statutory and regulatory responsibilities related to vocational rehabilitation. For example, a state may require an employer to offer rehabilitation counseling services to any employee who has injuries that result in a permanent partial disability unless the employer makes an offer of regular, modified or alternative work.

In some states, an employer may be required to pay for items such as tuition, in the form of a supplemental job displacement benefit which is payable to a school, or in some case, tools, computer equipment, and occupational licensing or professional certification fees.

Speak to a workers’ compensation lawyer

The laws regarding the vocational-rehabilitation responsibilities of employers, insurers and claimants vary by state. If you or a loved one has a work-related injury or disease, a lawyer at Rose Klein & Marias LLP in Los Angeles, CA, can answer your questions about the right to vocational rehabilitation. Call now to schedule your free workers’ compensation case review.