Workers are eligible for vocational assistance if they are unable to return to their previous job or other suitable, available work with the same employer and if they have a substantial handicap to employment.
Insurers determine injured workers' eligibility for vocational assistance.
Insurers and workers jointly select vocational assistance providers. Data about the program are provided in the publication V ocational Assistance in the Oregon Workers' Compensation System, 1986-1994, and in the executive summary Vocational Assistance in the Oregon Workers' Compensation System, 1997. This executive summary provides data on the disputes arising from the vocational assistance program. The Legislative Assembly finds that vocational rehabilitation of injured workers requires a high degree of cooperation between all of the participants in the vocational assistance process. Based on this finding, the Legislative Assembly concludes that disputes regarding eligibility for and extent of vocational assistance services should be resolved through nonadversarial procedures to the greatest extent possible consistent with constitutional principles.