Vocational Rehabilitation in Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Cases
Vocational rehabilitation in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation cases is designed to help injured workers return to the workforce by identifying jobs that fit their restrictions, skills, and experience. Insurance companies often use vocational rehabilitation and labor market surveys to evaluate earning capacity and seek reductions in wage-loss benefits.
What Is Vocational Rehabilitation?
When a worker suffers a job-related injury and cannot return to their pre-injury position, the workers’ compensation insurance company may refer them for vocational rehabilitation.
Vocational rehabilitation is intended to help injured workers identify jobs they may be able to perform despite their work-related limitations. The process often includes vocational interviews, assessments of work history and education, transferable skills evaluations, and labor market surveys.
While vocational rehabilitation is presented as a tool to help injured workers return to work, it is often used by insurance companies to support efforts to reduce or modify workers’ compensation benefits.
The Role of Vocational Counselors
Vocational counselors are hired to evaluate an injured worker’s ability to work and identify jobs that may fit within their medical restrictions.
During the process, the counselor may review:
- Medical restrictions
- Work history
- Educational background
- Transferable skills
- Available occupations within the worker’s geographic area
The vocational counselor may then prepare a labor market survey identifying jobs they believe the injured worker could perform.
What Is a Labor Market Survey?
A labor market survey is a report that identifies jobs a vocational expert believes are available to an injured worker based on their restrictions and qualifications.
The survey may include positions that:
- Match the worker’s physical restrictions
- Require similar skills or experience
- Exist within a reasonable commuting distance
- Are believed to be available in the local labor market
Insurance companies often rely on labor market surveys to argue that an injured worker has earning power, even if they have not actually secured employment.
How Vocational Rehabilitation Can Affect Benefits
Vocational rehabilitation can have a significant impact on wage-loss benefits.
If the insurance company believes suitable work exists within the injured worker’s restrictions, it may attempt to reduce or suspend wage-loss benefits through the workers’ compensation system.
However, benefits cannot simply be stopped because a vocational counselor identifies potential jobs. The insurance company must follow the proper legal process and, in many cases, file a petition and present evidence before a workers’ compensation judge.
Importantly, vocational rehabilitation generally affects wage-loss benefits rather than medical benefits.
Do I Have to Participate in Vocational Rehabilitation?
In many cases, injured workers are expected to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation efforts initiated by the insurance company.
Refusing to participate could result in legal action by the insurance company seeking to compel participation.
Because statements made during vocational interviews may later be used in litigation, injured workers should understand the process and their rights before participating.
Why Legal Representation Matters
Vocational rehabilitation cases often become disputes about an injured worker’s earning capacity and ability to return to work.
Insurance companies may rely heavily on vocational experts and labor market surveys when attempting to reduce benefits. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney can evaluate the evidence, challenge vocational findings when appropriate, and work with medical experts to demonstrate that the worker cannot safely perform the jobs identified by the insurance company.
Talk to a Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
If you have been referred for vocational rehabilitation or received a labor market survey in your Pennsylvania workers’ compensation case, it is important to understand how the process may affect your benefits.
At Stern & Cohen, our Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorneys help injured workers protect their rights when insurance companies attempt to reduce or suspend benefits based on vocational evidence. We can evaluate your case, explain your options, and fight for the benefits you deserve.
Contact Stern & Cohen today for a free consultation.
FAQs
What is vocational rehabilitation in Pennsylvania workers' compensation?
Vocational rehabilitation is a process used to evaluate an injured worker’s ability to return to work and identify jobs that fit their medical restrictions, education, skills, and experience.
What is a labor market survey?
A labor market survey is a report prepared by a vocational expert that identifies jobs they believe an injured worker could perform within their restrictions. Insurance companies often use these surveys when seeking to reduce wage-loss benefits.
Can vocational rehabilitation reduce my workers' compensation benefits?
Potentially. Insurance companies may use vocational evidence and labor market surveys to argue that an injured worker has earning capacity and should receive reduced wage-loss benefits.
Do I have to participate in vocational rehabilitation?
In many cases, yes. Refusing to participate may lead the insurance company to file a petition seeking an order requiring participation.
Can I challenge the findings of a vocational counselor?
Yes. Vocational opinions and labor market surveys can be challenged through medical evidence, vocational evidence, and legal representation during workers’ compensation proceedings.