If you are receiving workers' compensation, you must be employed or looking for work.

While you are not required by law to look for work as a condition to receiving your benefits, the Workers’ Compensation Board has established its own standard that allows insurance companies to stop your payments if you cannot demonstrate that you are “attached to the labor market.”

What exactly does that mean?

Even if a doctor has declared you too disabled to work in your current job, you must look for work. You must show a good-faith effort to explore real job postings that are appropriate for your disability. To be acting in good faith, the work you look for must be within your personal restrictions as determined by your doctor. For example, if you are prohibited from lifting more than 20 pounds, then applying for jobs as a UPS delivery person may not satisfy the Board’s requirement.

Further, the Workers’ Compensation Board may require that you *prove* “attachment to the labor market” as a condition to you continuing to receive benefits. To do this, we recommend that you keep a good record of your efforts to find work, even if you are not able to find a new job. A simple way to record your efforts is in a diary, either paper or electronic.

When keeping a job search diary, you should do the following:

• Keep it in real-time. Don’t wait a month and try to re-create your efforts.
• Include who you have spoken to, what newspaper job listing sections you read, the internet job sites you search or other things you are doing to find a job.
• Keep entries for all jobs you apply for.
• If you get an interview, make a note of it. Write down who you interviewed with and your contact in the human resources department.
• Keep track of the jobs you are professionally qualified for but don’t apply for because of your disability.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
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