Getting disabled workers back to work
The Preferred Worker Program (PWP) in its current form is a result of Senate Bill 1197 (1990). Clarifications were added in 1995 (SB 369), most notably that workers may not release PWP benefits during a claim disposition agreement (CDA). SB 119 (2005) expanded the program’s options by enabling payment for limited placement services contracted for on behalf of preferred workers.
The program’s objective is to sustain disabled workers in modified employment as soon as permanent medical restrictions are identified. A worker automatically receives a preferred worker identification card when the insurer reports that the worker has a work-related permanent disability preventing a return to regular work. The card informs prospective employers that the worker is eligible for the program’s benefits. A worker may also request qualification as a preferred worker from the Workers’ Compensation Division (WCD). WCD delivers PWP benefits, not insurers.
An eligible employer that chooses to hire a preferred worker is exempt from paying workers’ compensation premiums on that worker for three years. If the worker moves to another job, this premium exemption is transferred to the new employer for an additional three years. The three other benefits available for preferred workers and their employers are wage subsidies, worksite modifications, and employment purchases.
Benefit usage among preferred workers is difficult to measure because, with no time limit on when a preferred worker can start using the program’s benefits, some workers use benefits shortly after becoming eligible, while others wait for years before using benefits.