Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant

📋 Description

• • As a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant at Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, you will play a critical role in helping individuals with disabilities return to meaningful employment by developing cost-effective, evidence-based strategies that align with contractual definitions and support both employee well-being and organizational goals. Your work directly impacts claim outcomes, reduces long-term disability duration, and promotes inclusive workplace practices through expert assessment and collaboration.
• • Day to day, you will assess claimants’ medical, psychological, social, economic, educational, and vocational backgrounds to determine the viability and probability of success of vocational rehabilitation opportunities, comparing these assessments against policy provisions to conduct cost-benefit analyses and develop tailored return-to-work plans.
• • You will maintain proactive dialogue with claimants, plan holders, and treatment providers to formulate viable return-to-gainful-work plans, coordinate cost-effective utilization of rehabilitative service vendors, and liaise with public services and governmental agencies to identify overlapping benefits and control program costs.
• • You will collaborate with Disability Clinical & Vocational Services staff and case managers to move toward appropriate plans that reduce disability duration and enhance return-to-work probability, serving as an educational resource on vocational rehabilitation aspects of claims and educating stakeholders on functional limitations and their impact on work performance.
• • You will utilize standard vocational resources to conduct occupational assessments, perform transferable skills analyses and labor market surveys to support Claims Department benefit eligibility determinations, and compare medically supported restrictions with job requirements to determine claimants’ residual functional capacity.
• • You will apply knowledge of the ADAAA to identify effective work-related accommodations and stay-at-work options for plan holders and their employees, work with employers to implement appropriate worksite modifications and transitional work plans, and manage part-time work claims to increase full-time return-to-work potential where appropriate.
• • You will leverage your vocational expertise within a flexible environment to support Guardian’s current products (STD, LTD, Life, and ADA) and adapt to future product needs, ensuring alignment with evolving business objectives while maintaining high standards of clinical and ethical practice.
• • About the team or company: Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is a purpose-driven organization committed to inspiring well-being through inclusive, supportive, and flexible benefits, fostering a culture of high ethical standards, diversity, and professional growth where colleagues are empowered to achieve both personal and professional goals.
• • In this role, you can deepen your expertise in vocational rehabilitation within the insurance industry, strengthen your leadership in case management and disability advocacy, and contribute to innovative return-to-work strategies that improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities while advancing Guardian’s mission of inspiring well-being.