W.C. Voc Rehab.
5.8.02
UCR Ext.
Voc. Rehab. Bill pending in Sacramento is all but declared dead.
C.A.R.P. has bout 850 members and has two lobbyists.
On a Job Description need to get to the physical… not so much what as how.
Job Description is not a performance evaluation.
“Don’t assume the doctor knows your industry.”
D.O.T. = Dictionary of Occupational Titles
Last done in 1976, and has about 1,600 titles.
No longer published, will be O.Net = Occupational Network, which has 850 titles.
There is a national task force working on getting more specific jobs listed.
Used largely in Social Services… i.e. Social Security, Employment Development Department etc.
C.A.R.P. is pushing to make a standardized Job Analysis in Calif.
Estimated that within next five years that there will be a standard nationally and standard use of definitions i.e. pushing, pulling etc. that are empirical
The physical therapists and occupational therapists are also in on this.
“Part of basing the professional of vocational rehabilitation services in science.”
“No matter what you do, there are different schools of thought on it.”
“Try to know about the industry before you get there… you don’t want to be a problem for the employer. You want to be conscious of the environment.”
RU-90 says Applicant is unable to do Usual & Customary work but gives not work restrictions, use a check the box, interrogatory fashion to get something to work with.
J.A. needed when the employer and employee dispute the Job Description.
Also if there is i.e. a finger missing or the J.D.’s are widely different.
Def. Q.I.W. – LC § 4635
Def. Voc Rehab. Plan – LC § 4635
Services avail. In Voc. Rehab. = testing, placement, training, counseling, job seeking skills…
“Undocumented workers are not entitled to job placement, but they are entitled to vocational rehabilitation services.”
Undocumented worker at Del Taco
I-9 – Proof that the person has a legal right to work…
Had modified work avail., but she was now known to be undocumented, so she requested voc. rehab. i.e. training
“The employer has to do their job upfront.”
If they do have a real job, then are eligible for voc. rehab.
“It is a whole different issue if the person has false documentation.”
“The employers are not always completely clean on this stuff.”
Def. Medical eligibility – LC § 4636
When aggregate total disability continues for 90 days, employer must provide the injured worker their rights under W.C.
There is a pamphlet in Spanish.
When it exceeds 90 days, the employer should provide the physician a job description.
~> explained fully in Admin. Rule § 10124
Alt./Mod. Work covered in Admin. Rule § 10126
Can use RU-94
Must be bona fide offer, Applicant can accept or deny within 30 days.
Employer refund under this concept covered in Labor Code § 4638…
Other benefit systems to be careful of:
Fair Employment Housing Act
Family Medical Leave Act
Americans with Disabilities Act
Workers’ Compensation
Use to be exclusive remedy
Fair Employment Housing Act
Has been greatly broadened
Basically you must “have a limitation,” no longer substantial limitation
Nationally the focus is narrowing, but not in Calif.
“An employer’s exposure is so much greater in California.”
Like the Calif. A.D.A.
Family Medical Leave Act
Some employers count the first x-number of days against this…
Number of days job must be held can vary by size and scope of company and position…
There are some limitations on this i.e. one year of service etc.
“There is not a hard and fast rule.”
Americans with Disabilities Act
There are different definitions of what is a “disability.”
“A handicap is when it gets in the way of getting done what needs to get done.”
“If you can correct the problem, is it a disability? This is the stuff they are wrestling with…”
“Make sure if you are going to set rules on what people can or cannot do,that you base it on something.”
“You have to be careful about arbitrary limitations on employment.”
Republicans on a national level see voc. rehab. as an employment/business issue.
Democrats on a state level see it as a personal rights issue.
