Vocational Retraining Under Nevada Workers Compensation Law

The most significant limitation on a retraining program under Nevada workers’ compensation law is on the length of a retraining program.   Nevada law provides that the length of a retraining program that may be authorized by an insurer is determined by the injured worker’s percentage of impairment, known as his PPD award.   An injured worker may have a high permanent partial disability percentage under the criteria of the American Medical Association Guides to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (5th edition), but this injured worker may be capable of returning to his old job without any work restrictions.   Another injured worker may have a low percentage of impairment under the Guides, but may be unable to return to his pre-accident occupation and may need of a lot of retraining.  Unfortunately, the length of a retraining program is limited by the injured worker’s PPD percentage, and the actual needs of the injured worker rarely override that limitation.

• Injured workers with no PPD, but who have permanent work restrictions, and injured workers with PPD’s of 1% to 5% may be offered retraining programs up to 9 months long.
• Injured workers with PPD’s of 6% to 10% may be offered retraining programs up to 12 months.
• Injured workers with PPD’s of 11% or more may have program up to 18 months.

Only severely injured workers or those with exceptional circumstances may obtain programs that are longer.  The law is worded such that insurers argue that they may offer less than the allowable length of time if the insurer believes that the injured worker could be retrained to suitable gainful employment in a shorter time.   Injured workers who were making high wages at the time of their accidents rarely find suitable retraining programs that will lead to immediate employment with comparable wages.  High wage earners ordinarily have had years of higher education and/or years of experience that cannot be replaced with vocational retraining programs lasting less than two years. 

Neither the laws nor the regulations on vocational retraining limit the cost of a retraining program.  However, insurers often refuse to authorize the more expensive retraining programs, because less costly programs with other retraining facilities are available.  It helps if the injured worker has an involved attorney or a vocational counselor who is willing to advocate for the best program.   An injured worker has only 60 days to develop a program with the assigned counselor and get it approved by the treating physician and authorized by the insurer. 

 Insurers will only authorize those programs that are designed to lead to immediate gainful employment upon completion of the program.  Rarely will an insurer pay for college credits if the injured worker will not be able to obtain a certification or degree at the end of the authorized retraining period. 

For many years the rule was that injured workers who are residents of Nevada could not get rehabilitation services in other states if they decided to move from Nevada after their injury.  Over the years, the legislature has added more exceptions to that rule to allow retraining in other states under various circumstances.  Because the law on services outside of Nevada  changes every two years, check the most current version of NRS 616C.580 to determine whether out-of-state services are allowed for a particular set of circumstances.  

If an injured worker is unable to get the retraining program she desires because of the limitation on the length of the program, or because it is offered outside of Nevada, or because the insurer is being difficult about approving it, the next best option may be to take a vocational rehabilitation lump sum buy-out.   Please refer to the article on vocational rehabilitation lump sum buy-outs under Nevada workers’ compensation law.