Does your Employer Have to Retrain you in Colorado if You Are Unable to Return to Work?

Vocational rehabilitation helps an injured worker rebuild work skills as part of recovering from an injury or illness. Due to rehabilitation, sometimes an injured worker can return to his or her previous job. If an injury places permanent work restrictions or long-term limitations upon the worker, retraining for a new type of occupation may be necessary. In Colorado, the insurance company, the employer and the state are not required to pay for your vocational rehabilitation as part of your worker’s compensation benefits. 

If you or a family member was injured or sickened on the job, consult a knowledgeable attorney as soon as possible. That would be Mary E. Jeffers in Denver, Colorado to learn what types of workers’ compensation benefits your state allows, including vocational rehabilitation.

Although the state of Colorado is not required to offer vocational rehabilitation, the insurance company and/or the employer still can. Services which an injured worker may be entitled to if vocational rehabilitation is offered are: on-the-job training; education and tuition payments for retraining; transferable-skill analysis and testing; resume and job application services; interview coaching; labor market surveys; interview coaching; resume and job application services.

In Colorado, the law no longer requires the insurance company and the employer to offer vocational rehabilitation if the injured employee can no longer return to his or her previous occupation. If your are unable to fully recover from your injury (for example, due to restrictions on lifting), your authorized treating doctor will decide if there is any permanent impairment or will refer you to a doctor who will make this determination. The physician will first determine if any functional impairment resulted from your injury. If there is impairment, the doctor will assign an impairment rating based on the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, third edition revised. The insurance company will file a Final Admission of Liability if they agree with the rating, and you will receive weekly benefits for a certain length of time as compensation for the disability. The weekly amount depends on your date of injury as well as your age and average weekly wage for whole person injuries, and the length of time depends on the total amount of money owed to you according to law.

In Colorado, there are three type of permanent impairment: scheduled impairment, whole person impairment, and permanent total disability. Scheduled impairment is loss of function affecting the toes, feet, legs, finger, hands, arms, eyes, vision or deafness. Whole person impairment is loss of function affecting body parts not listed on the schedule above, such as the spine, lungs and mental impairment. Permanent total disability is the inability to earn any wages.

Awards for permanent partial disability do not include any wage loss that may have occurred as a result of the injury or disease. Awards for permanent impairment are based on the schedule in the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Act or are based on a whole person impairment formula which takes into account an injured workers’ age and average weekly wage.

If you have a scar or disfigurement in Colorado that was caused by your work-related injury and is exposed to normal public view, you may be entitled to a disfigurement award of up to $2,000 for injuries occurring prior to July 1, 2007, and $4,000 for injuries on of after that date. The maximum award for extensive disfigurement is $8,000 for injuries sustained on or after July 1, 2007.

If the workers’ compensation insurance company has not offered vocational rehabilitation and you are unable to earn wages, you may be permanently and totally disabled, and are entitled to lifetime workers’ compensation benefits. You will receive benefits in the same amount as you would receive for temporary total disability benefits. This benefits amount remains the same throughout your lifetime. However, a social security disability award or a disability pension may reduce your workers’ compensation benefits.

If you are unable to return to your previous occupation, your employer or your insurance company is not required to help you find a job, but may voluntarily offer vocational rehabilitation benefits. You may be required to participate in a vocational rehabilitation evaluation. If you refuse an offer of vocational rehabilitation or an offer of suitable employment by your employer, you will not be entitled to permanent total disability benefits.

The laws regarding vocational rehabilitation and the responsibilities of the employers, insurers and claimants are extremely complicated and vary state by state. If you or a friend has a work-related injury or disease, Attorney Mary E. Jeffers, a skilled lawyer in Denver, Colorado, can answer you question about vocational rehabilitation and permanent disability.

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