2015-583-E HR - Job Ready Services workplace fitness for duty and functional capacity testing

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DocuSign Envelope ID:6E9B5308-6677-4F2E-9268-29D6E1A4FD76 Post Injury Fit for Duty Testing CONFIDENTIAL Post employment testing of existing employees who have been injured is administered to determine an employee's ability to continue to safely perform the essential functions of their job. Tests must be job related and consistent with business necessity. This means Post Injury Fit for Duty tests may be customized to look at essential motion, strength, and job specific capabilities but should only focus on job-related medical conditions -- those conditions that may reasonably be viewed as affecting an employee's continued ability to safely perform the essential functions of the job. To ensure the scope of the functional testing is job related, the provider should perform only the portions of the musculoskeletal evaluation that correlate to the area of injury/symptoms. Similarly, dynamic lifting should only be performed in postures necessary to evaluate the injury/symptoms that might implicate safe performance of essential job functions and progressed only to the point of the individual's best safe effort or to the criteria established for the position—not beyond. Post employment testing for injured employees is rarely used to say an employee is "not capable" of performing a job, and should never be used by the WorkSTEPS° provider and/or the employer to terminate an employee from the work force. Employers also should enter into a dialogue with the employee to determine whether the employee could demonstrate the ability to safely perform the essential functions of the job and/or to determine that the employee, given a reasonable accommodation, could safely return to work and perform the job. The newest version of the WorkSTEPS© software does not give a "Capable/Not Capable" result for post-employment tests. The provider should identify any deficits and perform any additional essential function tasks necessary to identify the employee's capabilities. The provider also should always know to enter their comments regarding modifications, accommodations and/or expected follow-up in the Employer Notes section of the WorkSTEPS a test booklet and to contact the employer to discuss that any deficits identified do not necessarily mean "immediate termination". This information is intended strictly for educational purposes foa-WorkSTEPS providers. This should not be considered legal advice,and the employer should consult counsel of their own choosing to determine how this information applies to individual circumstances.