Workers’ compensation—good for employees, potentially bad for business.

Even a minor injury to a temporary employee can thrust a staffing company into a legal and financial whirlwind. Be proactive, not reactive. Instead of preparing for the worst, plan for the best. Create a strong safety culture, train your temporary employees to work safely, and establish an aggressive return-to-work program.  Over time, your workers’ compensation costs will fall.

Being proactive is one of the best practices for any business, especially in the staffing industry. To be proactive, you must start in the initial stages of the hiring process, during employee selection and screening. Many staffing firms are not sufficiently diligent at this stage. If you are not currently screening the temporary employees you are placing with your clients, you are already missing an excellent opportunity to reduce your exposure to liability.  Screening can include drug testing and background checks, but should always include weeding out predatory applicants by looking for “red” flags in work history, education, attitudes and overall demeanor.

Also, it is even more important to be proactive in your client selection, and the types of industries in which you choose to place temporary employees. If it sounds like a bad idea, it probably is! Reduce the exposure now instead of paying the price down the road. Even with the best safety programs in place, over time it’s probably inevitable that some injury to an employee will occur. When that happens, you won’t panic if you have put policies and procedures in place to guide you through the process.  Know what to do, where to go and who to call.  Take control of the situation until you can hand it off to a professional.

Train your temporary employee so they understand the process too.  Provide a list of medical treatment providers and let your clients understand what to do in the event of an injury.  Emphasize prompt reporting and make sure your staffing employees understand the importance of communication with the injured employee, the medical treatment provider and the claims adjuster.

What’s next?  The most important part!  Return Them To Work.   To control your long term costs, it’s crucial that workers’ compensation claimants return to work as soon as possible. Find ways to accommodate any work restrictions a doctor stipulates.  Help the injured employee feel good about the situation—and help them recover as quickly as possible.  The last thing any staffing firm wants is a temporary employee who learns to enjoy a lifestyle where he/she gets paid to stay home. Remain proactive and prevent that from occurring.

The more control you have over your workers’ compensation costs, the more profitable and competitive your staffing firm will be, now and in the future.