Washington L&I to employers: Consider light duty for injured workers

​Tumwater, WA – A new advertising campaign from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries encourages employers to consider light-duty work for employees recovering from on-the-job injuries.

The television and Internet campaign highlights L&I’s Stay at Work program. The program reimburses employers half an injured worker’s base wages, as well as some of the costs associated with the training and tools required for an injured employee to transition to a light-duty job.

According to an L&I press release, every year about 100,000 workers in Washington state are injured on the job and file workers’ compensation claims. The department said that since the program was authorized two years ago, it has saved about $7.5 million that would have been paid out in wage replacement benefits had the injured workers not returned to work.