When does PWP eligibility start?

How does the PWP help you?

Premium exemption:

Claim cost reimbursement:

Wage subsidy:

Worksite modification:

Employment purchases:

Paying for worksite modification and obtained employment purchases:

As an injured worker, it may be challenging to find work following recovery from your injury. The Preferred Worker Program allows injured workers to offer unique hiring incentives to Oregon employers. You can offer Preferred Worker Program benefits to your employer-at-injury or a new employer (in Oregon), or both. Most of the benefits can be used with two different employers. A description follows of how the program works.


When does PWP eligibility start?
Normally, the process of becoming a preferred worker automatically begins when your claim closes, if your workers’ compensation claim is accepted, if you have permanent disability as a result of an on-the-job injury in Oregon, and if you can’t return to your regular work. If this describes you but you did not receive a card, contact the Preferred Worker Program staff at 800-445-3948.

If you are eligible, the Workers Compensation Division (WCD) sends you a Preferred Worker Identification Card within a few days of finding out your claim has closed. The card has a blue state seal on the front. Along with the card, WCD also sends an information sheet about the program and forms to request benefits.

If your claim is still open, you have a job offer, and you want to use the Preferred Worker Program (PWP) with the employer, you should call WCD at 800-445-3948 and ask if you are eligible. PWP staff will get medical documentation from your workers’ compensation insurer to see if you meet eligibility requirements. If there is medical documentation that shows you meet the eligibility criteria, WCD will issue you a Preferred Worker Identification Card so you can use it for the new job. If this documentation is not yet available, WCD will not be able to issue you a card for use with that job. However, you may become eligible later, when permanent disability and a permanent return-to-work release have been established.

If you have been seriously injured and your employer has brought you permanently back into a different job before your claim closes, contact the Preferred Worker Program immediately to request an eligibility evaluation.


How does the PWP help you?
If eligible, you can offer an Oregon employer very valuable benefits if they hire you. WCD finds that employers are often very interested in wage subsidy. Worksite modification helps them accommodate you so you can physically do the job. Employment purchases help you with certain costs associated with starting or continuing employment. You can decide what parts of the program to use with a particular employer, within certain limitations.

If you are receiving vocational assistance, you will usually get some help from a vocational consultant with selling yourself and the program to an employer. If you are on your own in your job search efforts, it is very important that you read the program description and become familiar with its benefits. In that case, the job of explaining the program to prospective employers is primarily yours. You should call the PWP’s number, 800-445-3948, to get answers to questions before going to job interviews. We can also give you some tips on finding a job.

You have choices on how you wish to use your preferred worker status in your job search. You may wish to put your preferred worker status on a résumé, cover letter, or job application, when you know the employer wants to hire a preferred worker.

Another option is to reveal your preferred worker status at a job interview when you have the opportunity to sell your skills and abilities to the employer, along with the Preferred Worker Program incentives. If there is a gap in your work history because you were off work due to your injury, prospective employers may ask about it. Your explanation can include an explanation of the Preferred Worker Program benefits. You can also give the Preferred Worker Program toll free number to the employer if you want program staff to help you explain the program. Remember, the better you are able to explain the value of the Preferred Worker Program benefits, the more likely the employer will be persuaded to hire you.

This Web site includes a Job Match page where employers who are looking for preferred workers can advertise job openings. Employers post job openings along with skills, experience, and other requirements necessary for the job. Be sure to follow the instructions each employer gives for contacting them about the job.

You can also search the Oregon Employment Department Web site where you may find employers who have requested preferred worker applicants. To find these openings, type “preferred worker” in the job description word search.

If you need help using either of these resources, call us at 800-445-3948.


Premium exemption:
Premium exemption means your employer doesn’t have to pay workers’ compensation insurance premiums for you during a three-year exemption period. The employer must have an Oregon workers’ compensation insurance policy, however. If you are the first and only employee to be hired by this employer, there is a way for the employer to obtain another valuable benefit: a workers’ compensation insurance policy with no premiums to pay.

Once you receive your identification card, you are a preferred worker for life. Premium exemption is automatic for each Oregon qualified employer that hires you. Provide your ID card to the employer for them to take a copy so they can notify their workers' compensation carrier. The benefit is good for up to three years for each new qualified employer.


Claim cost reimbursement:
Here’s another important benefit of premium exemption to the employer. If you have a new injury during the three-year premium exemption period, all the costs of your new workers’ compensation claim will be reimbursed to the employer’s insurance carrier by the state for the life of the claim. This means your new injury doesn’t cost the insurance company anything, so it cannot cause your employer’s workers’ compensation premiums to increase. The employer can’t receive this important benefit from anyone but a preferred worker.


Wage subsidy:
Wage subsidy means the employer receives a 50% reimbursement from the state on your wages for six months of your employment.

To request wage subsidy you and your employer must complete the Wage Subsidy Agreement form, then sign it, and mail or fax it to the Preferred Worker Program. Once the Workers’ Compensation Division receives and approves the Wage Subsidy Agreement, a Wage Subsidy Reimbursement Request form will be mailed to the employer. If the Wage Subsidy Agreement is sent within 30 days of the date you started, the benefit can begin your first day. If the request is sent 31 or more days after you started work, the benefit would start the day after the request was sent.

The employer will be instructed to make copies of the reimbursement request form. The employer can request reimbursement as often as every week, each time using a copy of the form. The form is quick and easy to fill out. The employer signs the form, attaches a copy of payroll documentation showing your gross wages and deductions, and sends it to WCD. The employer receives a reimbursement check within 30 days.


Worksite modification:
Worksite modification involves changing your workstation or worksite to allow you to do your job within your injury-caused restrictions. It can also include changing your job duties to prevent you from working outside your restrictions.

To know where worksite modification can be applied, look at the injury-caused permanent restrictions and limitations that your medical provider documented for you. Then look at the requirements of the job. Where these two requirements are in conflict, worksite modification may help. For instance, if you can lift a maximum of 50 pounds occasionally, and your job requires lifting 65-pound boxes, you need worksite modification to stay within your permanent injury caused restrictions.

The PWP can authorize a maximum of $25,000 for worksite modifications needed because of injury-caused restrictions and limitations. During an eligibility period, you can get worksite modifications for one or two jobs, depending on the cost of the first modification. Most worksite modifications cost much less than the maximum.

If you and your employer want to request a worksite modification call PWP at 800-445-3948 or send a letter to WCD.

Program staff will ask basic information about you and your employer. A worksite modification consultant will be assigned to help you. The consultant will obtain a copy of your permanent restrictions and limitations from your insurer, and contact you within two or three days. The consultant will often want to visit your worksite and meet you and your employer in person. The consultant will explain and discuss the worksite modification process. PWP consultants have experience modifying work sites and will offer advice about the most effective and cost-efficient worksite modification. You and your employer may share ideas with the Worksite Modification Consultant as well. When the needed equipment has been identified and price quote(s) received, the consultant will prepare a Worksite Modification Agreement. You and your employer will need to sign the agreement before any equipment can be purchased by the PWP.

Who will own the equipment? Your worksite modification consultant has authority to assign ownership of each piece of equipment. The consultant will assign ownership to the preferred worker if the modification is done to worker’s property or premises (if you work from a home office or your vehicle, for instance), if the item is unique to you, or if it is mobile and portable and you could easily take it with you when your employment ends. It will be assigned to the employer if it becomes important to the employer’s business operation, or is attached to the employer’s property, premises, or equipment. Sometimes equipment must be assigned to the employer for liability insurance reasons. The consultant will discuss ownership issues with you and your employer. Assignments of ownership are a part of the agreement that both parties must sign before WCD approval.

There are two ways to pay for Worksite Modification equipment. The consultant will work with you to determine the best method of payment.


Employment purchases:
Sometimes there are expenses necessary to find, accept, or retain a job. If you’re eligible for employment purchases (EPs), the Preferred Worker Program can help you make some specific types of purchases if your employer requires them.

PWP staff must approve an Employment Purchase Agreement form before expenditures can be made. EPs include the items listed below if the employer does not pay for these items for other workers performing the same job.

Tuition, books and fees for instruction provided by an educational entity accredited or licensed by an appropriate body to update existing skills or to meet the requirements of an obtained job. Maximum benefit in this category is $1,000.

Lodging, meals and travel expenses (public transportation or mileage) to attend training. Maximum benefit in this category is $500.

Tools and equipment mandatory for employment, such as starter sets. Maximum benefit in this category is $2,500.

Basic clothing required for the job that you don’t already possess. Maximum benefit in this category is $400.

Worksite creation helps your employer when they create a new job for you and need assistance to cover costs for equipment, furnishings or other things they need so you can work. Maximum benefit is $5,000 per use.

Miscellaneous purchases are available to help you find, accpet, or retain a job when another EP category is not available but does not include a vehicle purchase. This category can be used as often as needed up to a maximum of $2,500 per claim opening.

Union initiation fees or back dues and one month’s current dues.

Occupational certification, licenses, and related testing costs, drug screen testing, physical examinations, or membership fees required for the job. Maximum benefit in this category is $500.

Moving expenses if your new job is in Oregon and more than 50 miles from your primary residence (or less, if it is a distance that you are medically unable to commute because of your injury). Moving expenses, unlike other categories of PWP assistance, can only be used once. There is a special Moving Assistance Agreement form to use for moving expenses, which you can request from staff or print from this Web site. Moving expenses are summarized below: