Matthew Staton
Staff Assistant When military personnel transition into the civilian workforce, their employers stand to benefit. The ability to adapt, learn quickly and get the job done exemplify the military experience. They also exemplify Matthew Staton, a veteran who today continues to serve his country in a civilian capacity, as staff assistant to the secretary of the Army. Like Staton, many of today’s service members return home from tours of duty with combatrelated injuries that can interfere with everyday activities, including employment. Two such conditions are Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Staton was exposed to multiple bomb blasts in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and was medically discharged from the Army for TBI and PTSD, as well as complications from gunshot wounds.
receive timely and effective stay-at-work/return-towork, or SAW/RTW, supports. Staying connected to the workforce has a positive effect on individual and family health and well-being, quality of life and standard of living. Conversely, when workers exit the labor force, federal and state tax revenues are lost, and public programs such as state workers’ compensation programs, Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, Supplemental Security Income or SSI, Medicare and Medicaid often foot the bill in terms of income support and health care services. According to research conducted or reviewed by DOL/ ODEP’s SAW/RTW Policy Collaborative, the following positive outcomes are achievable when workers are able to stay in the labor force or return to work after experiencing illness or injury: » Workers are able to continue earning money and enjoy the self-esteem and other advantages that come from employment. » Employers can benefit from the experience of longtenured workers, spend less money and time on hiring new workers, and potentially spend less on workers compensation benefits and premiums for private disability insurance.
Upon receiving his diagnoses, Staton obtained needed medical assistance, but the non-medical help he also received has made just as significant an impact in helping him resume a successful life and career, he says. Both on and off the job, Staton struggles with short-term memory problems. To help him with this issue, he uses a variety of tools, including personal digital assistants, a digital voice recorder and other assistive technologies.
» The benefits to state governments and federal government include helping workers and their families retain economic self-sufficiency and quality of life; expanding state economies and fiscal health by increasing tax revenues from wage earners; and lowering liabilities for state and federal social welfare and social security programs, including state workers’ compensation programs, SSDI, SSI, Medicare and Medicaid.
Each year, millions of U.S. workers, many with considerable job tenures, experience the onset or a change in a medical condition that challenges their ability to work. Many of these workers are at risk of leaving the labor force, especially if they do not
There is much that states can do to help workers who acquire disabilities to remain in the workforce, and according to the SAW/RTW Policy Collaborative, some states already are acting to improve the wellbeing of affected workers and the states’ bottom lines. Specifically, states can consider the following policy options to help people stay at work and return to work.
74 The Council of State Governments • National Conference of State Legislatures