Employment & Labor Publications

What Type of Work Must Connecticut Employers Offer to Returning Workers’ Compensation Claimants

By Courtney A. George, Esq.

Employers frequently question the extent of their responsibility to accommodate employees returning to work after a workers compensation injury.  The Connecticut Workers' Compensation Act (the "Act”) imposes a limited obligation on employers to offer suitable full-time work to returning workers’ compensation claimants.

The Act provides, in pertinent part:

"Where an employee has suffered a compensable job injury which disables him from performing his customary or most recent work, his employer at the time of such injury shall transfer him to full-time work suitable to his physical condition where such work is available, during the time that the employee is subjected to medical treatment or rehabilitation or both and until such treatment is discontinued on the advice of the physician conducting the same or of the therapist in charge of the rehabilitation program or until the employee has reached the maximum level of rehabilitation for such worker in the judgment of the commissioner under all of the circumstances, whichever period is the longest."

If 'suitable full-time work' is not available, the Act imposes no further obligation to accommodate the claimant.  The Connecticut Appellate Court has held that the Act “does limit an employer's discretion to terminate the employment of a workers' compensation claimant.  This statute imposes a limited duty on the employer to provide suitable work for an injured employee if it is available.  If suitable work is not available or the employee is unable to work due to infirmity, there is no hindrance to an employer, apart from whatever contract of employment or company policy exists, to discharge a workers' compensation claimant because of the neutral operation of an absence control policy.”  At least one Connecticut trial court has concluded that there is nothing in the Act that authorizes the displacement of a worker so that an injured worker can be provided with suitable work.

Likewise, in the absence of contractual or policy restrictions, a claimant's refusal of 'suitable full-time work,' for reasons unrelated to the original injury, operates to relieve the employer of any further obligation to accommodate the claimant. 

An employer should, however, exercise care in determining whether 'suitable full-time work' is available.  Under the Act, a claimant who does not receive an offer of 'suitable full-time work' is entitled to request a hearing in front of the Workers Compensation Commission.  Upon findings that an employer failed to transfer an eligible claimant to available 'suitable full-time work,' the commissioner may assess penalties of up to $500 against the employer and shall order the transfer of the claimant to such work. 

Additionally, failure to transfer an eligible claimant to ‘suitable full-time work’ may provide evidence supporting a claim under the provision of the Act that prohibits discrimination against an employee for exercising workers' compensation rights.  Subsection 31-290(a) of the Act provides:

"No employer who is subject to the provisions of this chapter shall discharge, or cause to be discharged, or in any manner discriminate against any employee because the employee has filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits or otherwise exercised the rights afforded to him pursuant to [the Act]."

In sum, the Connecticut Workers' Compensation Act imposes a limited duty to provide 'suitable full-time work' to a returning workers’ compensation claimant.  If no suitable work exists, an employer does not have to create work or displace other workers.  If an employee refuses an offer of suitable full-time work for reasons unrelated to the original injury, there is no further obligation to accommodate. However, employers should be careful in determining that no suitable work exists. A contrary finding by the Workers Compensation Commission may subject the employer to sanctions and require the employer to place the employee in a suitable position.  It also could constitute a basis for a discrimination claim.