Employers who have provided light-duty jobs to injured workers may be entitled to a reimbursement from the state Department of Labor & Industries as part of a new program to keep injured workers at work.

The Stay at Work program, available to employers who pay premiums to L&I, partially reimburses Washington employers for the cost of bringing injured workers back to safe, light-duty jobs before they are medically cleared to return to their old jobs.

Under the program, the employer creates a light-duty or transitional job for the injured worker in keeping with medical restrictions, and the worker receives a wage from the employer instead of time-loss compensation from L&I. An example might be an employer who creates an inventory job for a forklift driver recovering from a broken foot.

L&I's Stay at Work program then reimburses the employer 50 percent of the worker's base wage, plus some expenses, up to $10,000 per claim.

The program model already is successful in Oregon.