Reduce costs of employee benefits.
Employer experience has shown that an aggressive return to work program increases positive outcomes and reduces costs for an organization. Federal agencies can learn from the experience of private sector employers. Returning an employee to work:
- Saves money in lost time, increased insurance costs, replacement and retraining.
- A manufacturer accommodated a 28 year old worker returning with a disability at a cost of approximately $6800, compared to $327,000 which might have otherwise been spent in long-term disability payments for this employee alone.
- Returns workers to the job rather than losing their
expertise to long-term disability.
- The Embassy Suites Hotel (PDF) in Crystal City, VA regards reasonable accommodations as a way to keep valued employees on the job, as well as to hire qualified applicants with disabilities.
- Reduces additional disabilities among co-workers through
preventive accommodation.
- When the Houston Community College (PDF) instituted training programs for students with disabilities, employees saw the positive approach to disabilities demonstrated. As a result, college employees seek help for disabling conditions requiring accommodation, enabling them to remain on the job safely and productively and saving disability costs for the College.
- Needs analysis performed to avoid risks of re-injury for a returning worker often surface hazards to other employees thus doubling the benefit to the organization by both accommodating as well as preventing disability.
- According to the National Health Interview Survey Disability Supplement, 1994-1995 (PDF), occupational injuries are likely to increase unless employers provide effective workplace accommodations that lower the risk of injury.
Back to the Employer Business Case
