Unlike many employers who attempt to cut their workers' compensation costs through legislative reform and by cutting benefits, Ohio State University is taking a different approach.Faced with nearly $10 million a year in workers' comp costs, the University has begun allowing injured workers to return to work sooner by placing them in less-demanding jobs until they're fully healed.
The move has saved $4 million in the first year - more than twice what the college estimated.
That doesn't include savings from hiring fewer temporary workers and from projected reductions in premiums for workers' compensation insurance, said Tori Weeks, who oversees the program. Lower premiums probably will produce $500,000 in savings this year and reach $1.5 million annually within five years, she said.
Of course, not every injured person can be reassigned to a new job. In the case of Ohio State, however, only 5 percent of employees fit into that category. The others have been moved into other, mostly clerical positions, usually for four to 12 weeks.
Employees who return to work receive their full regular salary. Those on workers' compensation collect 72 percent of their regular salary for 12 weeks and less going forward.
