According to data drawn from the National Return to Work Survey 2013 and 2014, a staggering 65% of workers who lodge a claim for psychological injury are never contacted by their employer about the injury they sustained.

From a certain perspective, this makes sense.

Talking with a worker about his or her compensation claim must be a daunting prospect, especially if the claim is for psychological injury. There may be a fear of saying the wrong thing and making the situation worse. Bureaucratic processes may get in the way. The relationship between the claimant and the workplace may be fraught; each may be silently blaming the other. With all these factors potentially at play, it’s understandable that managers, supervisors and maybe even return to work coordinators put off picking up the phone and making the call.

However, data from the National Return to Work Survey shows that return to work is delayed when the workplace does not make prompt contact with workers who have suffered a psychological injury. (We discuss the data in more detail here.)

This knowledge provides RTW professionals with a clear opportunity to improve return to work outcomes for psychological claimants, and reduce claim costs.

How? It’s pretty simple.

Call the injured worker within three days of the injury being reported / claim being lodged.

Return to work outcomes are best when the workplace promptly contacts the injured worker. This is true of claims for physical injury and even more so for psychological claims, when the worker may already be suffering from depression or anxiety. Don’t leave the worker hanging, potentially adding to their burden.

Offer support.

Be empathetic, respectful, and pass on the good wishes of the workplace. This kind of support should be offered regardless of whether you think a particular claim for compensation is valid. Bear in mind that psychological claimants are likely suffering from a clinically diagnosable illness, even if that illness was not caused by work.

Provide information about the claims process and the role of the workplace in providing appropriate duties while the worker recovers.

Now is the time to provide clear information about the workers’ rights and responsibilities, and talk about the possibility of suitably modified duties when the worker returns. As a bonus, focusing on this kind of practical information-sharing may well make the call a less daunting one for everyone involved.

Don’t stress too much about getting it wrong.

UK organisation MIND write the following in their guide to supporting staff with a mental health problem:

“Sometimes people can worry about how to approach a conversation about a person’s mental health but there are no special skills needed – just the ones you use every day as a people manager like common sense, empathy, being approachable and listening.”

If it helps, you might like to consider what you’d say if you were calling someone who’d suffered a physical injury, and use this as a basis for your part of the conversation.

Let senior management know about the benefits of early contact.

This is particularly important if you’ve been asked not to call the injured worker for some reason, for example while legal advice is sought. There is a clear association between early contact and durable return to work. Delaying contact may increase the cost of a psychological claim. Pass this information on.

Give supervisors and line managers the support they need to make the call (if it is their responsibility to do so).

This support might involve:

• Clearly outlining the organisation’s expectation that all injured workers will be called within three days of the injury / claim;
• Providing training in mental health issues, including tips for communicating with people who may be suffering from common mental illnesses like anxiety and depression; and
• Delegating an alternative person to contact the worker if the supervisor is alleged to have contributed to the worker’s psychological injury.

The evidence is clear: return to work outcomes are better when organisations contact psychological claimants within three days of claim / injury.  As the Harvard Business Review has pointed out, there’s only one thing worse than that workplace conversation you’ve been dreading: dealing with the consequences of delaying it for too long.