A Return to Work Coordinator communicates to bring people together, supports employees while being aware of the interests of their business, listens, coordinates and seeks input.

Not a lot of time for naval gazing in this job!

The activities of a RTW Coordinator are plentiful – and they are fundamental to the successful return to work of an injured employee.

RTW Coordinators have strategic roles – like developing policies, relationships and management structures that streamline return to work processes and management – and day-to-day roles and operational activities, like dealing with individual cases, issues and conversations.

Let’s draw some of these out a little.

A RTW Coordinator will, on any given day, perform the following tasks:

Provide employee support

As one of the most important parts of their role, Coordinators are called upon to communicate openly and consistently – during the employee’s recovery and return to work – to understand the employee’s motivations and concerns, as well as their changing needs and abilities as the return to work progresses.

The communication also allows the Coordinator to form a trusting relationship with the employee. This way the employee feels more confident and RTW success is more likely.

RTW coordinators need good communication skills so they can:

• Clarify their role to the worker;
• Respond to the employee’s concerns;
• Discuss the possibility of modified duties;
• Assess any workplace “psychosocial stressors”;
• Advocate and express concern for the employee's well-being;
• Deal with any pay concerns or problems; and
• Educate the employee about the compensation system.
   

Assist with return to work on restricted duties

This is a core role for the Coordinator. While it is commonly perceived that before return to work can occur a full physical recovery is required, often, in fact, this is not the case.

RTW Coordinators performing at their best will assist the employee to return to work on appropriate, modified duties while the employee improves their health and works towards returning to their previous role – or one that is feasibly similar – and working with the employee and the treating medical practitioner to develop a plan for the modified duties.

Flexibility in this process makes a major difference to outcomes, something that RTW Coordinators facilitate. This might involve:

• Discussing flexible arrangement requests with a supervisor;
• Reviewing physician restrictions with the employee;
• Querying supervisors on specific job tasks and activities;
• Querying the employee about ways they perform job tasks;
• Directing observation of work tasks; and
• Conducting brief ergonomic assessments of physical risk factors.

Managing conflict

Coordinators are often required to have strong leadership skills, which assist in the management of conflict that may arise in difficult RTW cases, or to arrange dispute resolution services. Leadership skills allow the coordinator, once they’ve recognised which steps to take, to provide direction for the team of people involved in the return to work process.

Thinking strategically

Coordinators are required to develop strategies, policies, relationships and management structures that streamline return to work management. Time management comes into play here, as Coordinators juggle case management, strategic management and file management; as well as maintain accurate, up-to-date case records, data collection and the timely completion of forms.

Note: While the RTW Coordinator – with so many roles and responsibilities – may appear to be many things in the workplace, it’s important to remember that there are a few things that the RTW Coordinator is not:

• An expert in everything. When there is a problem outside their experience or skill range, a Coordinator will refer an employee on to the appropriate professional.
• A person with a magic wand. A Coordinator can point an employee in all the right directions, but only the employee can actually take themselves there. Coordinators can help empower employees to take control of their own RTW.
• A person who can pull duties out of thin air. A Coordinator can lobby for modified duties till they’re blue in the face, but if the workplace simply isn’t set up to provide any, there’s little the coordinator can do. In such cases an arrangement needs to be struck between employer and employee, which – in difficult cases – may require external assistance and/or mediation.