Temporary Modified Duty - Non Worker's Compensation

Introduction

Date of Last Review 5/7/07
SME: Director of Personnel Systems Management

The University of Texas at Houston Harris County Psychiatric Center (UTHCPC) strives to accommodate employees who have been temporarily restricted from performing their regularly assigned duties or are unable to perform essential aspects of their regularly assigned duties.

This procedure only covers employees who have sustained a personal accidental injury or illness totally unrelated to any injury or illness incurred while performing duties within the course and scope of their employment or appointment.

Overview

The policies below are to be followed after a personal injury/illness incurred resolves sufficiently for the employee to return to work on a modified basis:

Assist employees to the extent possible by temporarily modifying work assignment or duties

Arrange for a temporary work assignment, not to exceed 90 calendar days

Medical re-evaluation by the employee's health care provider must be performed at each 30 days at the expense of the employee

Evaluation by health care provider

The employee visits a health care provider (with their job description) for care relating to the injury/illness as follows:

Supervisor duties

Upon receipt of the documentation from the healthcare provider, the supervisor proceeds as follows:

Step	Action
1	Reviews the employee's restrictions and then determines the practicality and feasibility of modifying the employee's current job function.
2	Confers with Personnel Systems Management (PSM) Director and managers with open positions to determine a need for personnel within the hospital.
3	Use this table to determine the results of the supervisor's response: If the Supervisor... Then the Supervisor's Department Manager... Agrees to modify the employee's current position within her/his department Works with the Director of PSM to locate a temporary modified duty assignment in a different department within the hospital If a department is located, the manager of the department accepting the employee for temporary assignment develops a job to meet the restrictions or physical limitations established by the physician Modifies the employee's job description as needed to meet the restrictions or physical limitations established by the physician Works with Human Resources to determine the appropriate job classification and salary Prepares a Letter for Bona fide Job Offer Reviews the medical re-evaluation received from the employee's health care provider each 30 days to determine if the temporary assignment should continue Determines there is not placement for the employee in UTHCPC See Extended/Permanent Disability

Return to full duty

The employee must provide a Certification of Fitness for Duty form from her/his physician to the Supervisor one (1) day prior to returning to work. The employee will return to a position comparable in pay and benefits.

Extended/
Permanent disability

The table below shows what happens when an employee is unable to return to full work duties after being on a modified duty assignment:

Step	Action
1	Extended or permanent disability may be necessary if: The employee is not released by her/his attending health care provider to return to regular duties after 90 calendar days or The employee or employee's supervisor no longer believes it is practical or feasible to continue the temporary modified duty assignment
2	UTHCPC makes reasonable accommodations to: Continue the individual's employment at UTHCPC or Exhaust all benefits available to the employee (FMLA, sick leave, vacation, holiday, sick leave pool) Grant the employee a leave of absence without pay as long as the department is not negatively impacted operationally Refer the employee to the Benefits department, if eligible, to explore benefits options
3	Once all reasonable accommodations are explored and exhausted, and the employee is still unable to return to work without restrictions, the employee is separated from university employment.

Related Standards

The Joint Commission Human Resources Standards

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