Return-to-work guide
Returning to work after a neck or whiplash injury
A neck or whiplash injury can turn ordinary duties — screen work, driving, lifting, reaching overhead — into the parts of the day that need planning. Nexus Rehab coordinates the return-to-work side of the claim: we work to your treating doctor's certificate of capacity. Here is how that coordination runs, and who is involved.
What a return-to-work plan looks at
The starting point is the gap between what the role demands and what your treating doctor has certified you can safely do. For a neck or whiplash injury, that usually means looking closely at duties involving sustained postures — long stretches at a screen, driving, or repeated overhead reaching. A workplace assessment maps those demands against the certificate of capacity, so suitable duties can be identified rather than guessed at. Nexus Rehab does the mapping and the coordination; your treating doctor sets the medical boundaries and we plan inside them.
Suitable duties and a graduated return
A graduated return means work is reintroduced in stages agreed by every party, not all at once. Duties that load the neck can be reduced, rotated or rescheduled while capacity is rebuilt under your doctor's direction. Practical worksite adjustments — a reviewed workstation, a change to a driving roster, a lifting limit put in writing — are often what makes suitable duties workable in practice. We recommend the adjustments, write them into the plan, and check they hold up once you are back on the floor.
Who is involved, and how it is funded
A neck or whiplash injury can sit under more than one scheme. If it happened at work, it is usually a workers compensation matter regulated by SIRA; if it happened in a motor vehicle, it is usually a CTP claim. Either way, you, your employer, the insurer and your own healthcare team work to the same plan, and Nexus Rehab coordinates between them. Every service is approved by the insurer before it is delivered, and approved rehabilitation services are funded under the scheme rather than paid by the worker.
This is general information about returning to work, not medical advice. Your treating doctor directs your medical care — Nexus Rehab coordinates the return-to-work side and works to their certificate of capacity.