Rehabilitation standards and procedures

All staff members at the University of Auckland including all subsidiaries

To clarify the support available to injured staff to assist them with returning to their substantive position as soon as practical.

1. Our rehabilitation objectives are:

• The early reporting of workplace injury and illness
• The early intervention and medical referral
• The establishment of modified or alternative duties where required to support staff staying at work or an early or partial return to work
• Supporting a full return to pre-injury role or alternative duties where practical

2. We will assist staff members in an early and safe return to work following work-related injury or illness.

3. We will maintain injured staff members at work wherever possible. This may include:

• The same job and the same duties
• The same job, modified duties
• Another job

4. We will establish a University culture that reinforces active injury prevention through the identification of hazards and early reporting, supporting the University’s emphasis on reducing work related injury and incapacity.

5. We will normalise a University a culture of rehabilitation.

6. We will ensure, when necessary, that there is early accurate medical assessment and involvement of a rehabilitation specialist and/or allied health professional to support the return to work/rehabilitation process.

7. We will assist the injured or ill staff members maintain themselves at work or integrate them successfully back into the workforce. This will also assist in reducing possible psychological family, social and economic costs.

8. Reduce the human and economic cost of work related injury and occupational illness to both the University and its staff members and to assist seriously ill staff members to maintain their independence and a full family and community life.

10. The University of Auckland (UoA) is dedicated to supporting Staff in their rehabilitation following an injury or illness sustained at work, which may temporarily affect their ability to perform their usual duties. As an accredited provider under the ACC Accredited Employers Programme (AEP), the UoA effectively manages workplace injuries and co-ordinates the rehabilitation and return to work of Staff injured at work.

11. Rehabilitation of Staff injured elsewhere other than in the workplace, or whilst not “at work” are not in scope. These injuries are managed by ACC, however, ACC may decide to transfer the claim to the University’s Third Party Administrator (TPA) to manage on ACC’s behalf as a non-work injury.

12. From the time of injury or illness, the UoA will provide support and take all reasonably practicable steps to enable staff to either remain at work safely or return to work safely. It is recognised that as an employer the UoA can play an integral role in providing a structured return to work process by negotiating temporary changes to duties or hours, liaising with our Third Party Administrator (TPA) to co-ordinate the rehabilitation process and line managers to monitor the employee’s progress.

13. All reasonably practicable steps will be made to accommodate alternative or selected duties or a temporary reduction in hours. Each individual’s circumstances will be assessed on a case by case basis to ensure that the workplace rehabilitation requirements are practicable.

14. Line managers and staff should understand some key factors about returning to work following illness or injury:

• Early intervention is important. Lengthy and unnecessary periods off work can cause adverse physical, mental and economic effects on health. This may include fear, loss of confidence and self-esteem. There may be reduced physical tolerance and ability to perform usual activities of daily life and establishing prior work routines may be difficult
• Staff do not have to be 100% fit before returning to work. Initially they may not be able to complete all aspects of their job but could do alternative or modified duties and may need encouragement and support to begin the return to work process. Usually, the sooner a person returns to some form of work, the faster the recovery, and the longer a person is off work, the harder it is to return
• The timeline for returning to work can vary based on the severity of the injury and the employee's recovery progress. It's important for both parties to work together to ensure a safe and prompt return

15. Full details of the claims and injury management process are available via the Work-related injuries webpage.

16. Each Staff member’s injury and circumstances will be unique. Following the early identification of needs during an ‘Initial Needs Assessment’, the TPA Case Manager will invite the injured employee, their line manager and support person if required, to develop a specific individual rehabilitation plan (IRP) with a goal of returning the injured employee to their pre-injury role. Our TPA Case Manager will ensure all parties understand their role and responsibilities in relation to the rehabilitation of the injured employee.

17. Input will be sought to identify safe modified or alternative duties, and funding of required medical treatment.

18. With a return to work on alternative duties, the line manager, injured employee and their support person will be asked to consider and identify any potential risks and hazards. This may require the input of an Occupational Therapist to help develop a return-to-work plan. The engagement of an Occupational Therapist could occur prior to or following the initial rehabilitation meeting. Any hazards identified associated with a return-to-work plan will be managed in accordance with the accredited employer’s safety management system.

19. Where there is difficulty in identifying, or agreeing to, appropriate alternative duties the Case Manager may contract an Independent Occupational Physician (or Specialist in the specific field for the injury) to provide clarification and advice.

20. The Case Manager will document agreed interventions and request all parties to sign the plan as a commitment to what has been agreed. The plan must be developed within 28 days following accepting a claim (i.e. accepted cover decision). The Plan will record who will be responsible for co-ordinating or actioning each of the agreed interventions.

21. Following the meeting the Case Manager will make any agreed referrals and communicate these to the injured employee.

22. As rehabilitation interventions are completed, the rehabilitation plan should be updated to record these.

23. A copy of the rehabilitation plan, and any updates will be shared with all parties to the plan.

24. The injured employee’s Line Manager is responsible for:

• The weekly monitoring of rehabilitation when the employee is rehabilitating in the workplace
• Monthly monitoring of rehabilitation when the employee is unable to work
• Risk assessments when a return-to-work programme changes

25. The responsibility to monitor Staff undertaking rehabilitation will be documented in the Individual Rehabilitation Plan (IRP). Individual rehabilitation plans are reviewed and updated by agreed timeframes to reflect the status of rehabilitation. To find out more about rehabilitation monitoring, visit the Manager's ACC Monitoring webpage

26. When a rehabilitation path changes due to a new diagnosis, complications or a change in treatment or work fitness, the Case Manager is to ensure the rehabilitation plan is updated to reflect milestones completed, and/or newly agreed rehabilitation interventions. This may require additional needs to be discussed with the injured employee and documented on the claim record.

27. On-going rehabilitation cases will be reviewed at least monthly with the appropriate UoA Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager. These reviews will consider how the injured employee is progressing and whether any new interventions may be required (e.g. intervention options, medical case review, pain management). The outcome of these reviews will be documented in the Staff claim record and may require further consultation with the injured employee.

28. Where the rehabilitation process has been unsuccessful or has failed, a case conference shall be convened that may include the Case Manager, Line Manager, employee and employee representative/union (as required), to establish what other options may be available. These options may include but are not restricted to re-deployment to another position within the University, retraining, or assistance in employment in another field.

29. This review will consider what barriers prevented a successful return to work, how the outcome date was calculated, and what options might now be appropriate. The outcome will be reflected in a new rehabilitation plan, or new interventions added to the existing rehabilitation plan.

30. When a return to a pre-injury job is not achievable, the Case Manager is to consider the following hierarchy of interventions:

1. Same employer, same job, modified tasks
2. Same employer, different job
3. Different employer same job
4. Different employer, different job

31. If it is decided that an injured employee is not able to return to their pre-injury position due to injury, a vocational rehabilitation process will be implemented that considers the following steps:

Step 1: Initial occupational assessment
Step 2: Initial medical assessment
Step 3: Comprehensive vocational rehabilitation
Step 4: Vocational independence

32. Sometimes, due to the injury and incapacity of the injured person, it is not feasible or medically sustainable for a person to return to their pre-injury role. Where this situation arises, a decision may be made to start the vocational independence process.

33. This comprehensive process assesses what future work roles the injured claimant can undertake based on their skill levels and medical/injury capacity. It also identifies whether the person is fit for work or requires additional skill sets to achieve vocational independence.

34. Before the vocational independence process is embarked upon, it will be discussed with the injured employee, their line manager and support person if necessary. Appointments will be recorded as interventions and form part of the rehabilitation plan.

35. After all rehabilitation is complete and it is determined by the medical assessor that the injured employee has the capacity to do the jobs identified by the Occupational Assessor then the Case Manager will discuss this with the injured employee. The injured employee will then be deemed fit for work in those occupations and their compensation will cease after a suitable notice period.

36. The UoA is committed to upholding an injured employee’s code of claimant rights. This includes their right to have a family member, colleague or union representative support them in return to work discussions and rehabilitation meetings. The Goal of any of these meetings should be a safe and early return to work, accommodating any medical restrictions. We acknowledge that support during these meetings may assist in communication and understanding.

37. The responsibility for co-ordinating rehabilitation lies with ACC However, with the agreement of both the injured party and ACC, this may be delegated to the TPA non-work Case Manager. The University is fully committed to supporting rehabilitation for non-work-related injuries.

38. If an employee is injured in a motor vehicle accident whilst undertaking work on behalf of the University, then in most circumstances, ACC will manage this claim, however, ACC may decide to transfer the claim to the Employers TPA to manage on ACC’s behalf as a non-work injury.

39. If this does occur, ACC will pay weekly compensation to the injured employee (excluding the first week of injury) at 80% of calculated weekly earnings. The UoA will arrange with the employee to top this up to 100% of calculated weekly earnings. In addition, the UoA will pay any surcharges for medical treatments occurred by the employee, relating to their rehabilitation. To claim any expenses occurred the employee must:

• Have a claim approved by ACC
• Attend treatment approved by ACC
• Attend a registered ACC treatment provider
• Obtain a receipt for any surcharges paid
• Submit a claim via Concur

Further details are available on a case-by-case basis from HSW.

40. Informal issues raised may be considered as ‘Concerns’ and will most likely be raised with an employee’s line manager or case manager.
These concerns should be resolved through discussion and negotiation where-ever possible. Where they cannot be resolved and are escalated, they will be recorded as a complaint.

41. Complaints may be received by Line Managers, Payroll or other Claims & Injury Management Staff. It is important that these complaints are forwarded to the TPA Case Manager, or the UoA Complaints and Disputes Manager.

Line Manager

• Assist in identifying suitable alternative duties for work & non work claims
• Monitor the injured employee’s progress on a weekly basis when rehabilitating in the workplace
• Monitor the injured employee’s progress on a monthly basis when the employee is fully unfit
• Report any rehabilitation progress and any concerns immediately to the Case Manager
• Participate in the development of Individual Rehabilitation Plans
• Provide support and encouragement
• Assess return to work programmes for potential hazards

Injured Employee

• Complete accident / work injury report via the University’s incident reporting system
• Notify union / employee representative (as required)
• Communicate with Case Manager / Line Manager on progress
• Participate in the return-to-work process
• Help identify alternative duties
• Attend medical appointments as necessary
• Advise treatment providers regarding alternative duties
• Comply with agreed actions and reasonable requests

Third Party Administrator

• Contact employee and assess needs
• Triage claims
• Discuss rehabilitation initiatives with treatment providers
• Develop an Individual Rehabilitation Plan in consultation with relevant parties
• Monitor and review the return to work plan
• Liaise with other support people
• Advise injured employee of entitlements and claims process
• Will determine if the claim meets legislated requirement for cover

Union or Other Support Person

If required:

• Support the employee by helping to ask and answer any questions they might not have understood
• Support the employee in the return-to-work process
• Assist in developing and implementing rehabilitation policy and procedures
• Advise on alternative duties
• Liaise with Case Manager if there are any concerns

Complaints and Disputes Manager

• Review and response to any concerns or complains associated with the Staff claim and/or rehabilitation

The following definitions apply to this document:
Rehabilitation: the process whereby a person who has suffered personal injury regains or acquires the skills necessary to optimise physical, mental, vocational and social functionality
Work-related Injury: An injury caused by an accident that occurs in the course of work. An injury may also eventuate through “gradual process” as per the ACC legislative criteria
Non-work Injury: An injury caused by an accident that occurs outside of work hours and/or duties
Modified or Alternative Work: Allowing the employees to:

• Undertake an alternative role, i.e. a role other than that for which the person was primarily employed
• Perform different or modified tasks from those they usually perform
• Work from a different location, site or department
• Work less hours, a different shift pattern or alternative days

Third-Party Administrator: A specialist service provider that has been engaged to support the management of workplace claims on behalf of the employer.

Include the following:

• Accident leave and weekly compensation protocol and procedures

Document Control
Version: 2.0
Last Updated: Jul 2025
Next Review: Jul 2026
Owner: hsw@auckland.ac.nz
Approver: Associate Director, Health Safety & Wellbeing