(a) Employees injured in the course of and arising out of their employment under such circumstances as would cause such injury or disability to be compensable under the Worker's Compensation laws of the State of Ohio will be eligible to participate in the City's Injury Pay Program. The Cost Containment Committee referenced below will select the Program Physician(s) and medical facilities from submitted proposals.
(1) Employees sustaining a work related injury that requires medical attention at a medical treatment facility (i.e., sprains, simple fractures, etc.) will be transported to and treated by a Program Physician or medical facility. The Program Physician, along with rendering a diagnosis and prognosis, will determine if the employee is capable of returning to regular duties, whether a transitional work assignment is appropriate, and the necessary rehabilitation plan to be followed; this plan will include the duration of any transitional work assignment not to exceed thirty (30) calendar days and indicate any physical therapy the injured employee may require. The Program Physician(s) may require follow-up medical evaluations.
(2) Employees sustaining a work related emergency/trauma injury (i.e., life threatening, severe body injury) may be treated at any medical treatment facility to which emergency medical personnel transport them. The employee will subsequently be examined by the Program Physician. The designated Program Physician will determine if the employee is capable of returning to regular duties or if a transitional work assignment is appropriate and the necessary rehabilitation plan to be followed; this opinion will include the duration of any transitional work assignment not to exceed ninety (90) calendar days and indicate any physical therapy the injured employee may require. The Program Physician(s) may require follow-up medical evaluations.
(3) An employee may, after the initial evaluation by the Program Physician, elect to continue treatment with their personal physician provided the Program Physician's recommendations are followed. The employee will sign any necessary waivers to allow their personal physicians to release information to the Program Physician. The employee's personal physician will be the physician of record for Workers' Compensation purposes.
(b) Upon the Program Physician's determination that an injury requires the employee to be off work, wherein the employee reports said injury within twenty-four (24) hours of the incident of illness or injury, paid leave shall be granted by the Department of Human Resources for up to sixty (60) days.
Should such disability exceed sixty (60) calendar days, the Director of Human Resources, on application therefor and proof of continued disability, may extend the period during which such person is carried on the regular payroll. The length of such extended period or periods shall not exceed two (2) years.
Injury Pay Extension Requests, accompanied by a "Statement of Attending Physician" setting forth the illness or injury and the need for additional time, must be presented to the Director of Human Resources no later than one (1) week after the expiration of the original sixty (60) day disability period. If the above requirements are not fulfilled, the request for injury pay extension may not be considered.
(c) Workers' Compensation: At the expiration of the injury leave granted, if the employee is still unable to return to work, the employee may elect in writing to use accumulated sick and other accrued time. If the employee is still unable to return to work, payment of normal wages will be stopped and the Industrial Commission will be requested to begin weekly payment under the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act.
(d) If the opinion of the employee's treating physician conflicts with that of the Program Physician and such opinion is presented to the City in seven (7) calendar days of the Program Physician's evaluation, and if the physicians cannot agree after consultation, the employee will be referred for a third opinion. The Cost Containment Committee referenced below will establish a panel of occupational health specialists for third opinions. The third opinion shall be determinative of the employee's injury pay status under the contract and shall not be subject to further appeal or review. If the third opinion is consistent with the Program Physician's plan and the employee fails to abide by the rehabilitation plan, or if the employee enters and later drops out of the plan, then the City can recoup injury pay advanced from the employee's sick time accumulation. If the employee does not have a sufficient sick time balance, the City shall recoup the injury pay by reducing future sick leave earnings by one-half until the injury pay is fully recouped.
(e) Employees who sustain injuries in the course of and arising out of their employment under such circumstances as would cause such injury or disability to be compensable under the Worker's Compensation laws of the State of Ohio who choose not to be evaluated by the Program Physician or who choose not to follow that physician's recommended program and go only to the physician of their choice are not entitled to any paid injury leave benefits contained in this collective bargaining agreement. Notice of intent not to participate in the City's injury program must be given within three (3) workdays of the injury. Any and all work-related injury claims will be processed through and conform with the Workers' Compensation Act.
(f) False Claim: The City reserves the right to recoup benefit payments to any employee who is guilty of submitting a false claim, or abuse of the privileges covered in this section, or working for another employer while on injury leave, and may take disciplinary action.
(g) An employee working in a transitional work assignment will be compensated at their regular rate of pay. The employee will not be entitled to bid rights, overtime, etc., since the employee is not fit to perform all of the duties of the classification. With regard to the rights of other employees, the employee in the transitional assignment will be deemed not to be working out of classification.
Transitional work assignments will be identified by the Department of Human Resources in consultation with those divisions who have appropriate tasks available. The currently available assignments and the tasks involved in each division will be provided in writing to the union.
It is not the intent of this Section to allow divisions to provide transitional work above that identified nor is a division required to provide transitional work where no such appropriate tasks have been identified and recognized.
(h) An employee whose treating physician has declared the employee to be "maximum medically improved" (MMI) using the tie-breaking feature in part (d) of this section, shall have the right to fill a position according to the following priorities:
(1) Return to the same job so long as it does not violate their physical restrictions;
(2) Return to the same job with reasonable accommodations for their physical restrictions;
(3) Return to a vacant position in the same salary group for which he/she qualifies that does not violate their physical restrictions;
(4) Return to a vacant position in a lower salary group for which he/she qualifies that does not violate their physical restrictions.
In the event that an employee cannot be returned to work in their regular job or alternate position, or is applying for a PERS disability retirement, if the employee has followed the Injury Pay Program, the City will continue injury leave pay for a period of forty-five (45) days. After forty-five (45) days, the employee may use sick leave and/or vacation time that they have accrued. The Department of Human Resources will continue to review the vacancy list every two weeks for a position for which the employee would qualify. Where appropriate, if the employee qualifies for Bureau of Workers Compensation rehabilitation, the City will cooperate with the Bureau in allowing on-the-job training to help qualify the injured worker for a position.
With the intent of this injury program being to minimize time away from work and return the healthy employee to active employment as soon as possible, the Joint Labor-Management Health and Safety Committee (Section 2105.70 Provisions for Safety and Health) will also serve as a cost containment committee for Workers' Compensation.