It's a universal truth that the longer an employee is absentfrom work after a job-related injury, the harder it is to return towork at all. Workers' Compensation costs for the employer arehigher as well including those related to business expenses such aslost productivity, overtime, decreased morale, increased premiums,and the costs of hiring and training a new employee to replace theinjured employee.

An on-the-job injury is the proverbial rock-and-hard-placescenario that spawned Stay-at-Work programs. If planned andexecuted correctly, Stay-at-Work (and its close cousin,Return-to-Work) provide paths to bring injured workers back tolight-duty or transitional work quickly and safely. Both arecrucial in controlling Workers' Compensation expenses.

Some employers aggressively develop innovative ways to minimizecosts related to worker injuries. Others simply shrug theirshoulders at the current insurance landscape, figure they have topay what they owe, and grudgingly write the checks. It doesn't haveto be that way. For employers with significant Workers'Compensation expenditures, a Stay-at-Work program is a proactiveway to reduce direct labor expenses.