(1) In this
section —
return to work program means a program for
assisting an injured worker to return to work in a timely, safe and durable
way.
(2) The employer of an
injured worker must ensure that a return to work program is established for
the worker as soon as practicable after the earliest of the
following —
(a) the
day on which the worker’s treating medical practitioner issues a
certificate of capacity to the effect that the worker is partially
incapacitated for work;
(b) the
day on which the worker’s treating medical practitioner advises the
employer in writing that a return to work program should be established for
the worker;
(c) the
day on which, in proceedings under Part 6, an arbitrator determines, or
the parties agree, that the worker has suffered an injury in respect of which
compensation is payable and is partially incapacitated for work.
Penalty for this subsection: a fine of
$5 000.
(3) The return to work
program must, as far as is reasonably practicable, be established in
consultation with the injured worker.
(4)
Subsection (2) does not require a return to work program to be
established —
(a) for
a worker who has returned to work unless the worker has a partial incapacity
for work; or
(b) in
circumstances prescribed by the regulations.
(5) The employer must
ensure that the establishment, content and implementation of a return to work
program are in accordance with the regulations.
Penalty for this subsection: a fine of
$5 000.
(6) The regulations
may —
(a)
specify minimum standards or requirements for the establishment, content and
implementation of return to work programs; and
(b)
require a return to work program to be in the approved form or include
prescribed provisions.