In today’s job market new hires are not always physically capable to perform the job requirements. Additionally, medical providers often return employees to work without understanding the job requirements, therefore, increasing the risk of reinjury. This can be prevented through standardized objective protocol driven testing to measure the readiness for work or return to work.
Physical Ability Testing
Physical ability tests are a way to determine if a person has the capabilities to perform a particular job or activity safely, thus reducing risk of injury. Choose from many different physical testing alternatives that have many different applications. Our onsite testing services are fast, convenient and affordable.
Hiring a healthy workforce can sometimes be a difficult and frustrating task. Being proactive and testing your workforce to assure they are fully, and physically capable of performing the essential duties, helps to reduce the risk for sustaining work-related injuries. Post Offer screenings are available when the conditional offer of employment has been extended. The employer may now ask the medical questions under this condition, thus eliminating the need for medical clearance for testing.
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”) allows for testing the physical requirements that are essential to the job. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, some forms of physical testing can be given after you have extended an offer of employment to an individual. Taken from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the following information.
What types of disability-related questions and medical examinations are permitted after an offer of employment has been made to a staffing firm worker?
After an offer has been made, a staffing firm or its client may ask any disability-related questions or require any medical examinations that it chooses, as long as it does so for all applicants for the same job. However, if the staffing firm or client wants to withdraw the offer from an applicant with a disability based on the answers to these questions or the results of medical examinations, it has to show that the applicant either: (1) cannot perform the essential functions of the job, even with a reasonable accommodation; or (2) would pose a direct threat (i.e., a significant risk of substantial harm).
During the work assignment, a staffing firm or its client generally may ask a staffing firm worker disability-related questions or require a medical examination only where it has a reasonable belief that a medical condition will make the worker unable to do the job or will result in a direct threat.
Whether they can satisfy the job’s requirements or essential functions (describe them to the applicant).
If you want to give a medical examination to someone who has been offered a job that involves heavy labor, you must give the same exam to anyone who is offered the same kind of job.
You may withdraw an offer from an applicant with a disability only if it becomes clear that they cannot do the essential functions of the job or would pose a direct threat (i.e., a significant risk of substantial harm) to the health or safety of themself or others. Be sure to consider whether any reasonable accommodation(s) would enable the individual to perform the job’s essential functions and/or would reduce any safety risk the individual might pose.
Our testing is monitored for “Adverse Impact” and follows the “Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures” both from the EEOC.
A thorough job analysis must precede any testing. From this analysis a post offer screening is created to match the essential functions and the other requirements of the job.
There are six commonly accepted principles that relate to creation and validation of the evaluation processes:
Safety– The test should take place in a controlled environment and be expected not to cause harm or lead to injury.
Standardization – The process must be arranged in such a manner that reproduction of the protocol is possible.
Reliability – The results should be dependable across evaluators, individuals, and the date or time of test administration. The inter and intra coefficient of variance must be acceptable.
Validity – The interpretation of the testing results must be relational to a comparison of current individual abilities and job critical demands.
Practicality – The economic value of the process must be in line with the resulted benefit. However, cost-effectiveness is measured in both short and long-term benefits.
Utility – The multi-disciplinary application of the results and degree to which the information obtained meets requirements of the evaluee, company and payer.
Tests are conducted onsite for your convenience.
Returning an employee to work or from medical leave after injury is not always a clear proposition. Without knowledge of the job tasks and requirements, health care providers rely on the patient to provide an overview of the job.
Neither of these situations are accurate and objective. In some cases, the answer to the question “Are you ready to return to work?” can lead to a conflict, well intentioned or not.
Assure your employees are physically ready to return, and assure they are prepared for the specific requirements of their job.
A thorough job analysis must precede any testing. From this analysis a screening is created to match the essential functions and the other requirements of the job. In addition, a thorough medical examination is completed in regards to the reason for them being out of work. Examples of reasons for medical leave are as follows:
By making this a part of the return to work process you insure your employee is fully recovered and ready for return to work. You also have the opportunity to provide job coaching for the job duties in direct relation to the reason for being out of work and you have the opportunity to provide early injury prevention interventions to address any deficits. From here the process to develop the testing is in parallel with the Post Offer Screening methodology.