Mike’s a plumber in Palm Springs.

We’d never worked together.

He called me out of the blue one day because his longtime broker had just sold his book of business, and the service level fell off a cliff.

Nobody was walking him through his claims, and his workers’ comp mod kept creeping higher.

On the phone he said, “My workers’ comp mod keeps going up. We’re not a circus. We run a good shop.

What am I missing?”

We pulled his claims.

Same pattern over and over.

A guy tweaks his back, strains a shoulder, twists a knee.

Mike sends him home to “rest up.”

No light duty.

No modified role.

Just the couch and every Netflix binge imaginable.

When that happens, the insurance company doesn’t just pay doctor bills.  They start sending that worker checks to replace part of their paycheck while they’re off the job.  That’s what really drives the cost of the claim up and pushes your mod higher for years.

The medical bills weren’t killing Mike.

Paying people to sit at home and watch Netflix and order DoorDash was.

Here’s the part most owners never get told plainly.

Insurance companies don’t “eat” those costs.  They finance them back to you through higher premiums over several years.  For every dollar that goes out on a claim, you can easily end up paying two, three, even five dollars back in future premium once your experience mod and rating catch up.

That’s exactly what a light duty program is built to stop.

You keep the doctor in charge of restrictions.

You keep the employee on the job in a safer, easier role.

You keep those “you’re not working” checks from dragging on for weeks or months.

Same injury.

Same medical treatment.

Totally different impact on what you pay for workers’ comp.

If you don’t have light duty in place, you’re paying for problems you don’t need to have.

What a light duty program actually is:

A light duty program is a clear, written expectation that:

If someone gets hurt, and the doctor says they can work with limits, you will bring them back in a safe, modified role instead of sending them home.

For a contractor, that might look like:

• Shop operations: stocking, inventory, tool control, basic QC
• Field support: photos, documentation, measurements, punch list follow up
• Safety and fleet: vehicle checks, ladder checks, PPE, simple reporting

You’re not inventing busywork.

You’re designing real roles that fit restrictions.  And when you keep that paycheck on your own payroll instead of handing it to the insurance company to pay as “time off,” you’re not signing up for the most expensive financing arrangement in your business.

Five moves to set up a real light duty protocol.

Here’s how you put this in place without turning it into a 20 page HR project.

1)  Put your stance in writing

Decide what you actually believe and make it your standard:

“Our default is work, not the couch. If a doctor says an employee can work with restrictions, we will provide safe, modified work that fits those restrictions.”

2)  Create 2–3 defined light duty roles

Don’t rely on random chores.

Build actual roles you can plug people into, like Shop Operations, Field Support, and Safety and Fleet.
Each role should have a short list of tasks that can be dialed up or down based on restrictions.

3)  Get your clinic aligned with reality

Call your preferred clinic and have an adult conversation.

Tell them you have real light duty roles.
Ask them to give clear restrictions instead of blanket “off work” notes.
Make it clear your goal is safe return to work, not cutting corners.

If they can’t work with that, you’ve just found a problem bigger than any single claim.

4)  Lock in your leadership, not just your crew

Foremen and supers can quietly kill light duty if they see it as babysitting.
Set the expectation:

Light duty is not optional when it’s medically appropriate.
Modified duty workers are still part of the team.
If there’s a problem, it comes to you, not through sarcasm on the jobsite.

5)  Build a one page day of injury playbook

The worst time to design a process is in the parking lot after someone gets hurt.
Pre decide:

Where they go for treatment.
Who sends the clinic your light duty roles.
Who receives the restrictions and assigns the modified role that same day.

One page.
Clear steps.
No improvising.

If this hits a little too close to home, that’s exactly the point.
Mike didn’t call me because everything was on fire.
He called because his broker sold the book, the service disappeared, and nobody was helping him connect the dots between “no light duty” and a mod that was quietly draining profit.

I spend my days in the middle of this: mods, claims, and the quiet ways workers’ comp bleeds margin from good contractors.

If you want a second set of eyes on your setup or a light duty plan that actually fits your crew, this is the part I’m very good at.

-John Gustafson

Call or text me today at (559) 285 3246.