Reinstatement Rights of Injured Employees
Contrary to popular belief employees injured at work do not have an unqualified right to return to work, no matter how long it takes for recovery. Connecticut law allows an employer to terminate an employee injured on the job under the terms of a neutral leave of absence policy. While section 31-290a of the Workers’ Compensation Act prohibits an employer from discharging or discriminating against an employee because of an on the job injury, this section has been interpreted as allowing the discharge of such an employee under a policy uniformly applied to both occupational and non-occupational absences.
The lead case in interpreting section 31-290a is Chiaia v. Pepperidge Farm, Inc., 24 Conn. App. 362 (April 2, 1991). In that case the employer discharged an employee who was injured on the job after 12 months of leave, as permitted under its leave policy. The employee claimed a violation of section 31-290a. The Appellate Court of Connecticut found that there was no violation and stated, “section 31-290a does not require an employer to retain an employee unable to perform his work simply because that inability resulted from a work related injury or illness.”
It should be noted that section 31-313 of the Workers’ Compensation Act requires employers to transfer employees injured on the job to work that is suitable to their physical condition, provided such work is available. This obligation exists during the period that the employee is recovering from his injury, or until he reaches maximum medical improvement, whichever is later. This provision does not require an employer to make up a light duty job, but merely requires the employer to place the employee in any available job that he can perform given his restrictions and qualifications. An available job is one that is vacant or open.
In sum, under Connecticut law, if an injured employee is able to perform duties that you have available you must transfer him to those duties until he recovers or reaches maximum medical improvement. If no such job exists, he should be placed on a leave of absence and may be terminated after the expiration of his leave under a reasonable and neutrally applied policy, which complies with the state and federal FMLA, and the ADA.
