—by Ross Courtney
Two Washington programs that help employers bring back injured workers are raising the limits of the reimbursements they promise.
That’s causing a surge in interest for Stay at Work and Preferred Worker, two reimbursement programs that administrators say haven’t been fully tapped by the state’s workplaces.
“We get employers going, ‘Why have I never heard about this?’” said Sandee Mills, education and outreach supervisor for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries employer services division.
On Jan. 1, the state raised the limits for how much L&I reimburses an employer when bringing an injured worker back to the job site in a light-duty capacity. Once that increase was announced, Mills’ group received an increase in applications for the programs and in attendance at training webinars.
Historically, the two programs have been underused, said Mills and Denise Van Vleck, an early return-to-work consultant with L&I.
That means employers who pay premiums left money on the table, while employees missed out on the chance to restart their careers after being injured, Van Vleck told growers during a presentation at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association Annual Meeting in December in Yakima.
“You are paying for this, so utilize it,” Van Vleck told growers.
The Stay at Work and Preferred Worker programs use L&I premiums to reimburse employers for part of the wages and expenses of bringing workers who were injured on the job back to work in different capacities, typically called “light duty.” For example, an orchard pruner who fell from a ladder and broke a leg could work in the office.
Van Vleck’s office works in tandem with the reimbursement programs, helping employers find light-duty options and steering them through the paperwork they require.
The Stay at Work program is designed for temporary light duty. It reimburses growers for part of an employee’s light-duty wages as well as the costs of new clothing, equipment, tools and training needed for their new tasks. Training might include a community college spreadsheet class, while equipment could be something as simple as a new chair.
If an injury requires permanent changes to the tasks the worker can perform, the Preferred Worker Program works much the same way. It pays employers for part of the wages, clothing, tools and equipment, but not the training. Instead, it offers an extra payment of $25,000 to employers who can find new roles for injured employees for 12 months of continuous employment, as well as a three-year discount on premiums.
In 2024, the state paid out $16 million in reimbursements for Stay at Work, helping 5,388 injured workers return with a light-duty job. Van Vleck called that “a fraction” of the program’s capacity if more employers signed up.
Van Vleck and Mills suspect employers had underutilized the programs because they did not know about them or were put off by the paperwork. Employers must submit light-duty job descriptions that must be approved by a doctor.
Van Vleck’s job is to help employers and employees through that paperwork.
“I have been known to type up the form for employers,” said Van Vleck, who is based in the Yakima Valley and familiar with orchard operations.
Examples of light duty go beyond office work, she said. She has seen farms reassign injured workers as checkers, instructors or forklift drivers because they can’t stand all day. During the pandemic, some injured workers supervised hand-washing stations.
The reimbursements are intended to help employees as much as their bosses, Van Vleck said. Data shows that the longer injured workers are out, the less likely they are to return to work at all.
Allan Bros., a vertically integrated Yakima fruit producer, uses and appreciates the Stay at Work program for its orchard operations, said Juan Gaytan, director of human resources. The packing operations are privately insured, he said, and not eligible.
Gaytan, who moderated the annual meeting session in which Van Vleck spoke, also suspects growers may balk at the paperwork, especially smaller growers who don’t have a designated human resources staff.
“The process to utilize some of the resources of this program requires the users to follow and submit specific paperwork to qualify for its benefits,” he said. “The process may seem intimidating up front to some business owners who have never used this resource before or who do not have a dedicated person to learn the ins and outs of the program.” •
ONLINE: For a webinar schedule or more information about Washington state’s return-to-work incentive programs, visit: lni.wa.gov/claims/for-employers/employer-incentives.
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