There are two types of light duty for injured workers in Nevada: temporary light duty, and permanent light duty. The rules are different for each type of light duty.
Temporary light duty is light duty work offered by the employer while the injured worker is still undergoing treatment with a doctor. Permanent light duty is a job offered by the employer after the treating physician gives the injured worker final work restrictions.
Each time the employee visits the treating doctor, he should receive a physician progress report (PPR). The doctor writes what the temporary work restrictions are at the bottom of that PPR. The injured worker is responsible for taking a copy of the PPR to his employer and asking whether the employer will be offering light duty work that accommodates those restrictions. If not, the injured worker receives temporary total disability benefits from the insurer.
The employer may or may not want to offer temporary or permanent light duty work. If temporary light duty work is offered, the employer should send a written confirmation to the employee within 10 days, but most employers don’t do this. If the temporary light duty work consists of work within the same classification as the pre-accident employment, the employee’s hourly wage should remain the same. If the light duty work is in a different job classification, the employer may pay only 80% of the injured worker’s pre-accident gross wages.
The rules regarding permanent light duty are much stricter. A permanent light duty job offer must be in writing, it must allow the injured worker 7 days to respond, and the employer must intend for the job to be a permanent position. The work must not be demeaning or degrading, and it must be approved by the treating doctor. If the employer does not offer a permanent light duty job within 30 days of receiving a copy of the injured worker’s permanent work restrictions, the employee is referred
