13 - Employment: disability and fitness

Summary

This chapter discusses the provision of reports of disability evaluations, workers' compensation evaluations, evaluation of readiness to return to work, and special considerations as they pertain to the police and fire services. For a disability evaluation, the questions to be answered depend on the agency requesting examination. In particular, the use of selected psychological assessment tools in adults is stressed in the chapter. There is a special category of psychiatric fitness for duty when evaluating physicians. Fitness-for-duty evaluations are often seriously resisted by employees and their attorneys. Fitness-for-duty examinations sometimes lead to legal testimony. Social security evaluations rarely require psychiatric testimony. Workers' compensation evaluations often do require testimony. Examinations of police officers and firefighters have special needs due to the significant nature of stress imposed upon these public safety employees, and also due to the significant likelihood of critical incidents which may be life threatening.