When an employee sustains an injury or becomes ill, they may be unable to perform certain job duties or need time off from work.  The staff of the Work Connect Program will guide and assist Mayo Clinic Rochester employees and their supervisor through the leave process and eventual return to work.  The Work Connect Program is an integrated disability management program comprised of staff from the Claims, Return to Work, and Integrated Disability Coordinator sections in Recovery and Claims Services (RCS), the Nurse Case Managers in Occupational Health Services (OHS), and Human Resources.  The Work Connect Program is applicable to employees who sustain work related injury or illness and non-work related injuries and illness, including maternity and paternity leave requests.

Public page

Mayo Clinic is strongly committed to the belief that our staff is our greatest resource.  Each member of the Mayo Clinic staff is critical to supporting Mayo's primary value that "The needs of the patient come first."  When illness or injury negatively affects an employee's health, Mayo Clinic is committed to providing quality care and services and to reducing, as much as possible, stress associated with some sort of impairment and/or disability.

Mayo Clinic Rochester offers employees access to a very robust Return to Work Program through the Return to Work (RTW) Section within Recovery and Claims Services.  RTW provides employees with numerous resources to assist them to either stay at or return to work safely following an injury, illness, or surgery.

The return to work process, also called the Work Restriction Process, begins when an employee applies for a leave and/or benefit and submits work restrictions from their treating provider to staff within the Work Connect Program.  A RTW Disability Compliance Advisor will work with an employee, their supervisor, and the employee's treating provider to identify reasonable accommodations for any restrictions identified to allow the employee to stay at or return to their position.  If the home work unit is unable to accommodate the employee's restrictions, the RTW Disability Compliance Advisor will work to identify whether there is any transitional work, called a temporary alternative duty (TAD), that the employee can perform within their restrictions until the employee can return to their home work unit without restrictions or the home work unit can accommodate new restrictions.

It is important to the recovery of the employee that the employee and their supervisor continue to discuss the employee's work restrictions and work with the RTW Disability Compliance Advisor to ensure that the employee can return to productive work that is safe for the employee and the work unit.