Study: 96% of Injured Texas Workers Return to Work Within Three Years

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More than 9 in 10 injured Texas employees returned to work within one year post-injury and 96% returned to work three years post-injury, according to an analysis of return-to-work (RTW) outcomes for the Texas workers’ compensation system.

The Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) conducted studies of RTW outcomes between 2007 and 2020, analyzing 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.

The report, “2023 Return to Work,” found that 69% of employees who were back at work within six months stayed employed for at least three consecutive quarters. It took two years for employees who returned to work within six months to get back to pre-injury wage.

“The speed of an employee’s initial RTW can greatly affect an employee’s future wages, and how long it takes for an injured employee to get back to pre-injury wage levels,” the report said. When an injured employee can return to work and earn pre-injury wages, it reduces the amount and duration of income benefits they receive, thus lowering claim costs.

The six-month RTW rate increased from 79% in 2019 to 83% in 2020, the report found. Ninety-two percent of injured employees were back at work within one year post injury in 2020, the highest level since the start of the study.

Employees in the mining/utilities/construction industry had the lowest initial RTW rate at 76% in 2020, while Public administration injured employees had the highest RTW rates within six months of injury with 90% in 2020.

The number of days away from work for an employee who experienced a work-related injury increased over the course of the study.

The median days away from work for an employee in 2020 was 35 days, up from 20 days in 2013. Injured employees who are 60 and over experience nearly two more weeks on average away from work than employees who are 16-29 years old.

The full report can be found on TDI’s website.