Injured workers in Minnesota may be eligible for vocational rehabilitation services through the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s Vocational Rehabilitation unit. However, an update to the guidelines that govern these services may make it a little more difficult for injured workers to pursue these benefits.
The new law went into effect on August 1, 2024, and it states that if the sole dispute in a claim regards the discontinuance of compensation, an employee eligible for rehabilitation services may be referred to the vocational rehabilitation unit only after there is an administrative decision on the discontinuance and an objection to the decision has been filed by the employee or employer.
The new legislation essentially clarifies when the vocational rehabilitation unit can provide services and the timeline in which private qualified rehabilitation consultants (QRCs) can withdraw from an employee’s rehabilitation plan and send a referral to the VRU for continued services. The VRU can continue to provide services to the employee when there exists a dispute over medical causation or whether or not an injury occurred during the scope of employment and the employee is otherwise eligible for rehabilitation services.
Complex Situations Made Easy
This isn’t a major change to the workers’ compensation rehabilitation program, but it certainly isn’t going to make it any easier for injured workers to get the benefits they deserve. The workers’ compensation system is complex enough without having to ensure appeals and objections are filed before an employee can get the rehabilitative services they need to return to gainful employment.
To ensure that your case is properly handled, our best advice is to connect with a Minnesota workers’ compensation attorney if you are attempting to pursue compensation in the wake of an on-the-job injury. Not only will it significantly increase your chances of earning a large injury award, but it can also provide you with invaluable peace of mind knowing that everything is filled out correctly and on time. The Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry does not care that you are unfamiliar with the process and only sees many aspects of your claim in black and white, so if a form is incomplete or a deadline is missed, it could spell disaster for your claim.
Instead of wondering if everything will work out, take some of the guesswork out of the equation and outsource the heavy lifting to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer. The team at Hey Workers has helped thousands of injured Minnesotans get the compensation they deserve after a work accident, and we’d be happy to do the same for you. We offer free case reviews where you can sit down with an attorney and go over the basics of your case to see if filing a claim is the right move. If you like what you hear, you can bring us on board and we’ll handle the rest for you. Set up one of those free consultations today by giving our team a call at (844) 439-9675.
