Return-to-Work Rates on the Rise in Texas Workers’ Comp System: Report

The return-to-work (RTW) rate for employees in the Texas workers’ compensation system who received temporary income benefits (TIBs) for their injuries increased by 5% over the decade from 2007 to 2017.

That’s the finding of a report recently released by the Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group at the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation.

Using quarterly employee wage information from the Texas Workforce Commission, the report — Return to Work in the Texas Workers’ Compensation System, March 2020 — analyzes the percentage of injured employees who initially return to work after their injury; the percentage who remain at work; and the average days away from work.

Both initial RTW and sustained RTW outcomes were studied.

Initial RTW is the percentage of injured employees who returned to work for the first time after their injury. Sustained RTW is the percentage of injured employees who returned to work and remained at work for three consecutive quarters (nine months) after their injury.

Key findings of the report include:

Initial RTW

More injured employees are returning to work in Texas. The initial RTW rate steadily increased for injured employees in Texas between injury years 2007-2017 — from 78 percent of injured employees returning to work within six months post-injury in 2007 to almost 83 percent returning to work in 2017.

About nine out of 10 injured employees return to work within one year of their injury, and about 95 percent of injured employees return to work within three years of their injury.

Injured employees who receive impairment income benefits (IIBs) have lower initial RTW rates than other types of income benefit recipients. Injured employees who receive IIBs have more severe injuries than TIBs recipients.

Large employers have the highest initial RTW rates within six months post-injury, averaging at roughly 82 percent. Larger employers tend to have more robust RTW programs than smaller employers.

Initial RTW rates differ by industry sector. Public administration has the consistently highest initial RTW rates within six months post-injury at an average of roughly 87 percent. Employees in the mining/utilities/construction and agriculture sector have, on average, the lowest initial RTW rate at roughly 75 percent. Almost all sectors, except arts and accommodation, saw improvements in initial RTW rates over the decade.

Sustained RTW

Almost two thirds of injured employees who return to work within six months post-injury remain at work in Texas.

The sustained RTW rate focuses on injury years 2007-2016. More injured employees who RTW are remaining at work in Texas. In 2016, almost two-thirds (65 percent) of injured employees who went back to work within six months post-injury remained at work for at least three consecutive quarters, compared to about 60 percent in 2007. The sustained RTW rate has increased over time for all claim maturity levels.

Injured employees who receive IIBs also have lower sustained RTW rates than other types of income benefit recipients. The average sustained RTW rate for TIB recipients within six months post-injury was the highest among the three benefit types at roughly 62 percent (see Figure 2.2).

Injured employees who work for larger employers have the highest sustained RTW rates. More than two-thirds of injured employees working for large employers who return to work within six months post-injury remain at work.

Injured employees who work in public administration also have the highest sustained RTW rates. The industry with the lowest sustained RTW rates at six months post-injury was agriculture at roughly 56 percent.

Wage Recovery

Those returning to work within six months of injury, on average, show a recovery to pre-injury wage levels in about two years.

Days Away

Injured employees who return to work within six months of injury have the fewest days away from work.

Overall, the median days away from work is slightly lower in 2017 (24 days) than it was in 2007 (27 days), which means less lost income for injured employees and fewer disruptions to employer productivity. The mean days away from work shows a stable overall trend at roughly 42 days.

Older injured employees tend to be away from work longer than younger injured employees. Injured employees who are “60 and over” have, on average, 10 more days away from work than employees who are “16-29” years old.

Employees with more severe injuries, as measured by an injured employee’s impairment rating, tend to be off work longer than employees with less severe injuries. Generally, the number of days away from work after injury increases as the employee’s impairment rating increases.

Employees in the mining/utilities/construction and agriculture industries experienced the highest average and median number of days away from work.

Conrado Garza managed the project, analyzed the data, and authored the report. DC Campbell, Amy Lee, Botao Shi, and Dr. Soon-Yong Choi contributed valuable editorial comments. The full report is available online at: https://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/regulation/roc/rtw2020.html.

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation

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