1 Return-to-Work Outcomes for Texas Injured Workers Texas Department of Insurance Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group August 2007

1

Return-to-Work Outcomes for Texas Injured Workers

Texas Department of InsuranceWorkers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group

August 2007

2

Four Areas of Focus For This Report

• Initial return-to-work rate • Sustained return-to-work rate• Trends in pre- and post- injury wages• Days off work

3

Data Sources• Texas Workforce Commission’s wage data for 2001-2006

• Medical billing data for 2001-2005 collected by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation

• Income benefit data and claim data for 2001-2005 collected by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation

4

Measures

• Initial Return-to-Work (RTW) was computed as the percentage of injured workers back at work for the first time after the injury and this figure was computed at several different points after the injury (six months, one year, one and a half years, two years, and three years).

• Sustained RTW was computed as the percentage of injured workers who returned and stayed employed for three or more consecutive quarters after the work-related injury. This number was also computed at incremental points after the injury (six months, one year, one and a half years, two years, and three years).

• Median Number of Days Off Work was calculated using the date of injury, the dates when income benefits began and ended, and wage information.

5

Methods• The focus of this study was on workers injured in 2001-2005 who also received

Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs).

• If the TIBs received by an injured worker were equal or greater than 70 percent of the injured worker’s average weekly wage, TDI classified the claims as temporary total disability. If TIBs received were less than 70 percent of the worker’s average weekly wage, TDI classified the claims as temporary partial disability.

• If a wage was reported in the same quarter as the last total disability income benefit payment, then the last date of total disability benefit payment was considered as the return-to-work date (RTW).

6

Methods-Continued• For workers without wages in the quarter when total disability benefits ended, the next

quarter with wages was identified as the RTW quarter, and the midpoint of that quarter was considered as the RTW date.

• If the first quarter with earnings was the quarter following the injury quarter and the worker also earned wages for two or more consecutive quarters, then the first quarter with earnings was considered as RTW quarter.

• Days off work = RTW date – (Injury date + 8).

• To adjust for the impact of salary continuation on RTW outcomes, if the first quarter with earnings was the quarter following the injury quarter, and the worker did not earn wages for two or more consecutive quarters, then the next quarter with earnings was considered to be the RTW quarter.

Note1: The methods described here were based on previous research conducted by the RAND Institute. See: Reville, Robert T., Leslie Boden, Jeff Biddle, Christopher Mardesich. 2001. “An Evaluation of New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Permanent Partial Disability and Return-To-Work.” Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

Note2: Injured workers begin to accrue TIBs on the eighth day of disability. See Sections 408.101 - 408.105, Texas Labor Code.

7

Return-to-Work Ratesfor the Texas Workers’ Compensation System

(as of December, 2006)

8

Initial Return-to-Work Rate

Injury YearWithin

6 MonthsPost Injury

Within1 Year

Post Injury

Within1.5 Years

Post Injury

Within 2 Years

Post Injury

Within3 years

Post Injury

2001 70% 79% 83% 85% 88%

2002 71% 80% 84% 86% 89%

2003 72% 81% 85% 87% 90%

2004 74% 83% 86% 88%

2005 75% 84%

Percentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for the First Time6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group, 2007.

Note 1: The study population includes 329,986 workers injured in 2001-2005 who also received Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs).

Note 2: Although the increases of initial RTW rates were small, they were statistically significant at the 0.01 significance level.

9

Initial Return-to-Work RateOver Time Post Injury

Percentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for the First Time6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury


Note 1: The study population includes 329,986 workers injured in 2001-2004 who also received temporary income benefits (TIBs).

Note 2: Although the increases of initial RTW rates were small, they were statistically significant at the 0.01 significance level. While this reflects a improvement in the percentage of workers who have initially returned to work, the difference is not big enough to conclude that the WC system improved substantially during this time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

within 6months

from 6monthsto 1 Year

from 1 to1.5

Years

from 1.5to 2

Years

from 2 to3 years

Init

ial R

etu

rn-t

o-W

ork

Ra

te

Injury Year2001

Injury Year 2002

Injury Year 2003

Injury Year 2004

Injury Year 2005

10

Initial Return-to-Work Rate

Injury YearWithin

6 MonthsPost Injury

Within1 Year

Post Injury

Within1.5 Years

Post Injury

Within 2 Years

Post Injury

Within3 years

Post Injury

2001 58% 62% 63% 63% 64%

2002 60% 65% 65% 66% 66%

2003 62% 66% 67% 68% 68%

2004 63% 67% 68% 69%

2005 63% 67%

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Returned to Their At-Injury Employers6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury


Note 1: The study population includes 329,986 workers injured in 2001-2005 who also received Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs).

11

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate

Injury Year

Within6 Months

Post Injury

Within1 Year

Post Injury

Within1.5 Years

Post Injury

Within 2 Years

Post Injury

Within3 years

Post Injury

2001 61% 68% 73% 76% 80%

2002 62% 70% 74% 77% 81%

2003 64% 71% 76% 79%

2004 66% 73% 78%

2005 68%

Percentage of Injured Workers Back At Work and Remained for ThreeSuccessive Quarters Beginning With the Initial RTW Quarter

6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury


Note 1: The study population includes 329,986 workers injured in 2001-2005 who also received temporary income benefits (TIBs).

12

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate With Equal or More Than Pre-Injury Wages

Injury Year

Within6 Months

Post Injury

Within1 Year

Post Injury

Within1.5 Years

Post Injury

Within 2 Years

Post Injury

Within3 years

Post Injury

2001 46% 46% 45% 45% 45%

2002 45% 45% 45% 45% 45%

2003 45% 45% 45% 45%

2004 47% 47% 47%

2005 50%

Percentage of Injured Workers Back At Work For Three Successive Quartersand Earned a Wage Equal or More Than Their Pre-injury Wages



Note: 46 percent of workers injured in 2001 and who initially returned for three consecutive quarters in the 6 months following the injury quarter actually returned at their full pre-injury wages.

13

Sustained Return-to-Work RateWith 70 to 99 Percent of Pre-Injury

Wages

Injury Year

Within6 Months

Post Injury

Within1 Year

Post Injury

Within1.5 Years

Post Injury

Within 2 Years

Post Injury

Within3 years

Post Injury

2001 32% 31% 31% 30% 30%

2002 32% 32% 31% 31% 30%

2003 33% 34% 32% 31%

2004 32% 31% 31%

2005 30%

Percentage of Injured Workers Back At Work For Three Successive Quarters at70 to 99 Percent of Their Pre-injury Wages



Note: 32 percent of workers injured in 2001 and who initially returned for three consecutive quarters in the 6 months following the injury quarter actually returned at 70 to 99 percent of their pre-injury wages.

14

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate With Less Than 70 Percent of Pre-Injury Wages

Injury Year

Within6 Months

Post Injury

Within1 Year

Post Injury

Within1.5 Years

Post Injury

Within 2 Years

Post Injury

Within3 years

Post Injury

2001 23% 24% 24% 25% 25%

2002 22% 23% 24% 25% 25%

2003 22% 23% 23% 24%

2004 22% 22% 22%

2005 20%

Percentage of Injured Workers Back At Work For Three Successive QuartersAnd Earned a Wage Less Than 70 Percent of Their Pre-injury Wages



Note: 23 percent of workers injured in 2001 and who initially returned for three consecutive quarters in the 6 months following the injury quarter actually returned at less than 70 percent of their pre-injury wages.

15

Initial Return-to-Work Rateby Injury Type

for the Texas Workers’ Compensation System


16

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Back At Workby Injury Type, 1 - 3 Years Post-Injury


Injury Type

Injury Years

2001 2002

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

Hand-wrist superficial trauma 87% 91% 92% 87% 91% 92%

Ankle-foot soft tissue 87% 91% 93% 86% 91% 93%

Hand-wrist soft tissue 85% 91% 93% 86% 91% 93%

Hand-wrist nerve compression 84% 91% 93% 84% 90% 93%

Knee internal derangement 84% 90% 91% 83% 89% 91%

Shoulder soft tissue 81% 88% 90% 82% 88% 91%

Multiple soft tissue 80% 87% 90% 79% 87% 90%

Other 80% 86% 89% 80% 87% 89%

Low-back soft tissue 75% 83% 87% 76% 84% 88%

Neck soft tissue 74% 81% 85% 75% 83% 87%

Low back nerve compression 64% 75% 80% 66% 76% 81%

17

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Back At Workby Injury Type, 1 - 3 Years Post-Injury-Continued


Injury Type

Injury Years

2003 2004 2005

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury








Unknown 82% 88% 90% 84% 89% 84%


Neck soft tissue 76% 85% 88% 78% 85% 79%


18

Initial Return-to-Work Rateby Industry



19

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Back At Work by Industry1 Year to 3 Years Post-Injury


Note: “Professional services” include information/finance/insurance, real estate/rental/leasing, professional/scientific/technical services, management of companies and enterprises, administrative/support/waste management/remediation services. “Other services” include repair and maintenance, personal and laundry services, religious, grant making, civic, professional and similar organizations, and private households.

Industry Type

Injury Years

2001 2002

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

Public administration 94% 96% 97% 93% 96% 97%

Education/health, social assistance 86% 90% 92% 87% 91% 93%

Manufacturing 83% 89% 92% 84% 90% 93%

Wholesale/retail/ transportation/warehousing 83% 89% 91% 84% 90% 92%

Other services 79% 86% 88% 81% 88% 91%

Arts, entertainment, recreation/accommodation, food services 77% 85% 88% 80% 86% 89%

Professional services 77% 84% 88% 77% 84% 88%

Agriculture/forestry/ fishing/hunting 76% 82% 85% 72% 82% 86%

Mining/utilities /construction 71% 80% 85% 72% 81% 86%

20

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Back At Work by Industry1 Year to 3 Years Post-Injury Continued



Industry Type

Injury Years

2003 2004 2005

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

3 Years Post

Injury

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

1 Year Post

Injury



Manufacturing 85% 91% 93% 87% 92% 88%


Other services 80% 87% 91% 81% 87% 83%





21

Initial Return-to-Work Rateby Geographic Region



22

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Back At Work by Geographic Region

1 Year to 3 Years Post-Injury

Geographic Region

Injury Years

2001 2002

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

West 79% 86% 89% 80% 87% 89%

South 78% 84% 87% 79% 85% 88%

Central 83% 88% 90% 83% 89% 91%

East 77% 84% 87% 78% 84% 87%

North 80% 86% 89% 81% 88% 90%


Note: “West” Texas includes E1 Paso, Midland Odessa, and San Angelo. “South” Texas includes Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Harlingen, Laredo, San Antonio, Victoria, Missouri City, and Weslaco. “Central” Texas includes Austin, Bryan/College Station, and Waco. “East” Texas includes Beaumont, Lufkin, and Tyler. North includes Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth,Lubbock, and Wichita Falls. 437 claims without field office information were excluded for analysis.

23

Percentage of Injured Workers Initially Back At Work by Geographic Region

1 Year to 3 Years Post-Injury Continued


Note: “West” Texas includes E1 Paso, Midland Odessa, and San Angelo. “South” Texas includes Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Harlingen, Laredo, San Antonio, Victoria, Missouri City, and Weslaco. “Central” Texas includes Austin, Bryan/College Station, and Waco. “East” Texas includes Beaumont, Lufkin, and Tyler. North includes Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth,Lubbock, and Wichita Falls. 437 claims without field office information were excluded for analysis.

Geographic Region

Injury Years

2003 2004 2005

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

3 Years Post

Injury

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

1 Year Post

Injury

West 82% 88% 90% 82% 88% 83%

South 80% 86% 89% 82% 87% 82%

Central 83% 89% 91% 85% 90% 86%

East 80% 86% 89% 82% 88% 83%

North 83% 89% 91% 84% 90% 85%

24

Sustained Return-to-Work Rateby Injury Type



25

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by Injury TypePercentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for Three

Successive Quarters, 6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury


Note: 32,504 claims with missing injury types were classified as “unknown.”

Injury Type

Injury Years

2001 2002

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury








Other 74% 82% 85% 74% 83% 86%


Neck soft tissue 78% 84% 87% 77% 84% 87%


26

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by Injury TypePercentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for Three

Successive Quarters, 6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury Continued


Note: 32,504 claims with missing injury types were classified as “unknown.”

Injury Type

Injury Years

2003 2004

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

Hand-wrist superficial trauma 54% 64% 69% 56% 65%

Ankle-foot soft tissue 64% 73% 78% 68% 75%

Hand-wrist soft tissue 66% 74% 78% 68% 76%

Hand-wrist nerve compression 70% 79% 82% 74% 80%

Knee internal derangement 73% 80% 83% 75% 81%

Shoulder soft tissue 75% 82% 87% 75% 81%

Multiple soft tissue 73% 81% 84% 75% 81%

Unknown 76% 84% 87% 78% 83%

Low-back soft tissue 78% 84% 87% 78% 83%

Neck soft tissue 80% 85% 87% 81% 86%

Low back nerve compression 79% 84% 86% 81% 86%

27

Sustained Return-to-Work Rateby Industry



28

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by IndustryPercentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for Three Successive

Quarters, 6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury



Industry Type

Injury Years

2001 2002

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

3 Years Post

Injury



Manufacturing 65% 73% 78% 65% 74% 78%


Other services 68% 76% 80% 72% 79% 83%





29

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by IndustryPercentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for Three Successive

Quarters, 6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury Continued



Industry Type

Injury Years

2003 2004

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

3 Years Post

Injury

1 Year Post

Injury

2 Years Post

Injury

Public administration 63% 73% 77% 64% 73%

Manufacturing 66% 75% 79% 69% 77%

Wholesale/retail/ transportation/warehousing 69% 76% 79% 72% 78%

Other services 69% 78% 82% 73% 79%

Arts, entertainment, recreation/accommodation, food services 76% 83% 85% 78% 84%

Professional services 75% 82% 85% 78% 84%

Agriculture/forestry/ fishing/hunting 79% 84% 86% 81% 85%

Mining/utilities /construction 88% 91% 93% 87% 91%

30

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by Geographic Region



31

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by Geographic RegionPercentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for Three Successive

Quarters, 6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group, 2007.Note: “West” Texas includes E1 Paso, Midland Odessa, and San Angelo. “South” Texas includes Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Harlingen, Laredo, San Antonio, Victoria, Missouri City, and Weslaco. “Central” Texas includes Austin, Bryan/College Station,and Waco. “East” Texas includes Beaumont, Lufkin, and Tyler. “North” Texas includes Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth,Lubbock, and Wichita Falls. 437 claims without field office information were excluded for analysis.

Geographic Region

Injury Years

2001 2002

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

West 66% 73% 77% 66% 74% 78%

South 68% 75% 79% 69% 76% 80%

Central 68% 76% 80% 70% 78% 81%

East 69% 76% 80% 70% 78% 82%

North 73% 79% 83% 73% 80% 83%

32

Sustained Return-to-Work Rate by Geographic RegionPercentage of Injured Workers Back At Work for Three Successive

Quarters, 6 Months to 3 Years Post-Injury Continued

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group, 2007.Note: “West” Texas includes E1 Paso, Midland Odessa, and San Angelo. “South” Texas includes Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Harlingen, Laredo, San Antonio, Victoria, Missouri City, and Weslaco. “Central” Texas includes Austin, Bryan/College Station,and Waco. “East” Texas includes Beaumont, Lufkin, and Tyler. “North” Texas includes Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth,Lubbock, and Wichita Falls. 437 claims without field office information were excluded for analysis.

Geographic Region

Injury Years

2003 2004

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

3 Years Post Injury

1 Year Post Injury

2 Years Post Injury

West 69% 76% 79% 72% 78%

South 71% 77% 81% 73% 79%

Central 72% 79% 82% 74% 80%

East 72% 80% 83% 75% 81%

North 74% 81% 83% 76% 82%

33

Wage Trends for the Texas Workers’ Compensation System


34

Wage Comparison Results

Overall – In general, from injury years 2001-2005, there were slight improvements in the amount of time it took for injured workers to return to wage levels comparable to their pre-injury wages. For injury years 2001 and 2002, injured workers generally did not return to pre-injury wage levels until more than one year after their injury quarter; however, workers injured in 2003, 2004, 2005 were generally able to return to pre-injury wage levels between 9 and 12 months after their injury quarter.

By Injury Type – There were significant differences in pre-injury wages across the injury types. In general, workers with knee internal derangement injuries had the highest median quarterly wages, while workers with hand/wrist superficial trauma injuries had the lowest median quarterly wages.

Additionally, there were significant differences across injury types in the time it took injured workers to return to their pre-injury wages. Generally, workers with hand/wrist superficial trauma returned to their pre-injury wages the fastest (1 quarter), while workers with low back, neck and hand/wrist nerve compression injuries returned to their pre-injury wages the slowest .

35

Wage Comparison Results, continued

By Industry – There were also significant differences in pre-injury wages across industry sectors. In general workers in public administration had the highest median quarterly wages while workers in arts/accommodation had the lowest median quarterly wages.

There were slight differences across industry sectors for the time it took injured workers to return to their pre-injury wages. Generally, workers in agriculture and public administration returned to pre-injury wages the fastest (2-3 quarters), while workers in manufacturing returned to pre-injury wages the slowest (4 to 5 quarters).

By Geographic Region – There were significant differences in pre-injury wages across geographic regions. Ranked from the highest median quarterly wage ($7,344) to the lowest median quarterly wage ($5,983), they are north, east, south, central, and west.

There were no significant differences across geographic region for the time it took injured workers to return to their pre-injury wages.

36

Median Quarterly Wages (Pre-/Post- Injury) for Injured Workers Receiving Temporary Income Benefits

Injury years 2001 - 2005


Note: For the marks on the X-axis, Pre injury quarter means the quarter before the injury quarter,

Post1 means the first quarter after injury, and Post2 means the second quarter after the injury quarter.

$4,000$4,500$5,000$5,500$6,000$6,500$7,000$7,500

Pre In

jury

Qua

rter

Injur

y Q

uarte

r

Post 1

Post 2

Post 3

Post 4

Post 5

Post 6

Post 7

Post 8

Post 9

Post 1

0

Post 1

1

Post 1

2

Quarters Pre- and Post- Injury

Qu

arte

rly

Wag

es

Injury Year2001 Injury Year 2002 Injury Year 2003

Injury Year 2004 Injury Year 2005

37

Median Quarterly Wages

Injury Year pre injury post1 post2 post3 post4 post5 post6 post7 post8 Post9 Post10 Post11 post12

2001 $5,698 $4,658 $4,152 $5,024 $5,366 $5,568 $5,710 $5,800 $5,851 $5,903 $5,969 $6,019 $6,106 $6,200

2002 $5,939 $4,875 $4,376 $5,287 $5,661 $5,862 $6,007 $6,086 $6,211 $6,308 $6,350 $6,435 $6,553 6,627

2003 $6,093 $5,045 $4,460 $5,457 $5,912 $6,132 $6,307 $6,427 $6,559 6,658 6,851 7,000 7,072 7,201

2004 $6,271 $5,208 $4,595 $5,634 $6,129 6,413 6,729 6,904 7,012 7,108

2005 6,573 5,397 4,945 6,111 6,529 6,880


Note: Pre means the quarter before the injury quarter, Injury means the injury quarter,

Post1 means the first quarter after injury, and Post2 means the second quarter after the injury quarter.

Median Quarterly Wages (Pre-/Post- Injury) For Injured Workers Receiving Temporary Income Benefits

Injury Years 2001 - 2005

38

Days Off Work (as of December, 2006)

39

Mean and Median Days Off Workfor Injured Workers Who RTW At Some Point Post Injury

Injury Years 2001-2004

InjuryYear

Mean days off work

Median days off work

2001 150 32

2002 142 32

2003 139 31

2004 111* 26*

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group, 2007.Note1: The mean and median days off work in 2004 may be under-estimated due to data maturity and should be viewedwith caution.Note2: “Days Off Work” was defined as days from the injury date to the initial RTW date. Please note that these numbers do not take into account any additional time off work that may have occurred after the initial RTW date. Note3: The analysis was based on the claimants who returned to work, and did not include those who did not return by the end of 2006. Injury year 2005 was excluded because of insufficient data.

40

Mean and Median Days Off Work for Injured Workers Who RTW at Some Point Post Injury by

Injury Type, Injury Years 2001-2004


Injury Type Mean days off work Median days off work

Hand/wrist superficial trauma 79 20

Ankle/foot soft tissue 89 22

Unknown 114 26

Multiple soft tissue 130 28

Other 118 28

Low back soft tissue 143 29

Knee internal derangement 114 29

Shoulder soft tissue 133 29

Hand/wrist soft tissue 127 30

Neck soft tissue 155 32

Hand/wrist nerve compression 166 37

Low back nerve compression 200 74

41

Mean and Median Days Off Work for Injured Workers Who RTW at Some Point Post-Injury

by Industry, Injury Years 2001-2004

Industry Mean days off work Median days off work

Public administration 74 21

Education/health, social assistance 96 24

Wholesale/retail/transportation/warehousing 113 26

Manufacturing 123 28

Arts, entertainment, recreation/accommodation, food services 134 29

Other services 135 30

Professional services 151 32

Agriculture/forestry/fishing/hunting 152 34

Mining/utilities/constructions 166 35



42

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group, 2007.Note: “West” Texas includes E1 Paso, Midland Odessa, and San Angelo. “South” Texas includes Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Harlingen, Laredo, San Antonio, Victoria, Missouri City, and Weslaco. “Central” Texas includes Austin, Bryan/College Station, and Waco. “East” Texas includes Beaumont, Lufkin, and Tyler. “North” Texas includes Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Wichita Falls. 437 claims without field office information were excluded for analysis.

Region Mean days off work Median days off work

Central 106 25

South 124 27

East 130 28

North 129 29

West 135 31

Mean and Median Days Off Work for Injured Workers Who RTW at Some Point Post-Injury

by Geographic Region, Injury Years 2001-2004

43

Summary• About 70 to 75 percent of workers returned to work at some point within two

quarters (approximate 6 months) after the injury quarter. About 61 to 68 percent of workers returned and retained employment for three or more successive quarters. For those who returned for three or more successive quarters, only about 45 percent of them returned to their pre-injury wage. About 64 to 69 percent of workers returned initially to their employers for whom they worked at the time of the injury.

• About 12 to 15 percent of injured workers had not returned to work two years after the injury quarter. For the workers who returned and retained employment for three or more successive quarters, about 25 percent of them returned with wages less than 70 percent of their pre-injury wages.

• Workers with hand-wrist superficial trauma and ankle-foot soft tissue injuries generally returned to work faster than workers with other injuries. About 87 percent of those workers returned to work at some point within one year after the injury quarter and 91 percent returned within two years after the injury quarter.

44

Summary-Continued• Workers with low-back nerve compression injuries returned to work much slower

than workers with other injuries. Only about 66 percent of them returned to work at some point within one year after the injury quarter. About 76 percent of them returned within two years after the injury quarter.

• Workers in public administration returned to work fastest. Workers in mining/utilities/construction returned much slower than workers in other industries.

• There were significant differences across regions in terms of initial bi-quarter RTW rates. Ranked from the highest to the lowest, they are central, north, west, south, east.

• From 2001 to 2005, the initial RTW rate and sustained RTW rate have been on an increasing trend.

• It took about one year for the median of quarterly wages to return to the pre-injury level. There were significant differences across injury types for the time it took the injured workers to return to their pre-injury wages.

45

Summary-Continued• Although the differences in quarterly median wages across industries and across

geographic regions were significant, the patterns at which wages returned to their pre-injury levels were quite similar.

• The median days off work have decreased slightly from 32 days for workers injured in 2001 to approximate 31 days for workers injured in 2003.

• Significant differences exist in median days off work across injury types: from 20 days for hand-wrist superficial injuries to 74 days for low-back nerve compression.

• Moderate differences in median days off work across industries ranged from 21 days in public administration to 35 days in mining/utilities/construction.

• Small differences in median days off work across regions: from 25 days in central to 31 days in west.

Documents

1 Return-to-Work Outcomes for Texas Injured Workers Texas Department of Insurance Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group August 2007