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3.44—LICENSED PERSONNEL WORKPLACE INJURIES and WORKERS’

COMPENSATION

The district provides Workers’ Compensation (WC) Insurance, as required by law. Employees who sustain any injury at work must immediately notify their immediate supervisor, or in the absence of their immediate supervisor notify the District’s Human Resource’s designee. The injured employee will then be instructed to notify the district’s worker’s compensation claims administrator to report their injury at 1-855-769-7900 or use the 24-hour online reporting form www.arsba.org/page/insurance. An injured employee must fill out a Form N and the District’s Human Resource’s designee will determine whether to report the claim or to file the paperwork if the injury requires neither medical treatment or lost work time. While many injuries will require no medical treatment or time lost at work, should the need for treatment arise later, it is important that there be a record that the injury occurred. All employees have a duty to provide information and make statements as requested for the purposes of the claim assessment and investigation.

The District may discipline an employee, up to and including termination of the employee’s contract, if it is discovered that the employee:

  1. Deliberately made false statements concerning the origin of an injury or the circumstances surrounding the injury; or
  2. submitted a WC claim that the employee knew to be based substantially or entirely on false information.

An employee shall not be disciplined solely because the District’s WC carrier denied the employee’s WC claim.

For injuries requiring medical attention, the district will exercise its right to designate the initial treating physician and an injured employee will be directed to seek medical attention, if necessary, from a specific physician or clinic. In addition, employees whose injuries require medical attention shall submit to a drug test, which shall be paid at the District’s WC’s carrier’s expense. Failure for the employee to submit to the drug test or a confirmed positive drug test indicating the use of illegal substances or the misuse of prescription medications shall be grounds for the denial of WC benefits.

A WC absence may run concurrently with FMLA leave (policy 3.32) when the injury is one that meets the criteria for a serious health condition. To the extent that WC benefits and FMLA leave run concurrently, the employee will be charged for any paid leave accrued by the employee at the rate necessary to bring the total amount of combined income up to one hundred percent (100%) of the usual contracted daily rate of pay. If the health care provider treating the employee for the WC injury certifies the employee is able to return to a “light duty job,” but is unable to return to the employee’s same or equivalent job, the employee may decline the District’s offer of a “light duty job.” As a result, the employee may lose his/her WC payments, but for the duration of the employee’s FMLA leave, the employee will be paid for the leave to the extent that the employee has accrued applicable leave.

Employees who are absent from work in the school district due to a WC claim may not work at a non-district job until they have returned to full duties at their same or equivalent district job; those who violate this prohibition may be subject to discipline up to and including termination. This prohibition does NOT apply to an employee who has been cleared by his/her doctor to return to "light duty" but the District has no such position available for the employee and the employee's second job qualifies as "light duty".

To the extent an employee has accrued leave and a WC claim has been filed, an employee:

  • Will be charged for any accrued leave for all days missed until such time as the WC claim has been approved or denied;
  • Whose WC claim is accepted by the WC insurance carrier as compensable and who is absent for eight (8) or more days shall be charged accrued leave at the rate necessary, when combined with WC benefits, to bring the total amount of combined income up to one hundred percent (100%) of the employee's usual contracted daily rate of pay;

  • Whose WC claim is accepted by the WC insurance carrier as compensable and is absent for fourteen (14) or more days will be credited back that portion of accrued leave for the first seven (7) days of absence that is not necessary to have brought the total amount of combined income up to one hundred percent (100%) of the employee's usual contracted gross pay.

    Cross References: 3.8—LICENSED PERSONNEL SICK LEAVE

    3.18—LICENSED PERSONNEL OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT

          3.32—LICENSED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE

Date Adopted: June 8, 2009
Last Revised: April 12, 2021

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