Modified duties
Temporary changes to a job so an injured or ill worker can safely return to work before they are fully recovered, within their medical restrictions.
Also called: modified work, light duties, suitable work, transitional duties
What modified duties means
Modified duties are a temporary version of a job, or a different set of tasks, that an injured or ill worker can do safely while they recover. The changes are built around the worker's functional abilities and restrictions, for example no lifting over a set weight, no ladders, seated work only, or shorter shifts.
Modified duties are a core part of returning to work after a workplace injury. Workers' compensation boards expect employers and workers to work together on an early and safe return, and offering suitable modified work is usually the most practical way to do it.
They also matter outside workers' compensation. If an employee has a disability, including one not caused by work, human rights law expects you to consider accommodation, and modified duties are one common form of it.
How it works
Start with information, not a diagnosis. You are entitled to know what the worker can and cannot do (their functional abilities and restrictions) and how long that is expected to last. You generally do not need their diagnosis. Many boards have a functional abilities form the worker's health care provider can complete.
Build a modified duties plan. List the tasks the worker can do, the hours, any equipment changes, who will supervise, and a date to review. Good modified duties are real, useful work, not sitting in a back room. Common examples in small businesses are front counter or phone work, inventory and ordering, training new staff, quality checks, cleaning tasks that avoid the restricted movement, and reduced hours in the usual job.
Pay for the modified work. The worker is paid for the hours worked in the modified job. If it pays less than their usual earnings, ask your board how that affects the worker's benefits.
Review often. Increase duties as the worker recovers, and talk to the worker, their health care provider and the board if something is not working. Common mistakes: offering work that goes beyond the restrictions, using modified duties as a punishment, not putting the plan in writing, and letting the plan drift with no review date.
Modified duties by province
Every board expects cooperation on return to work, but formal duties to offer modified work or re-employ injured workers differ by province and by employer size.
| Where the work is done | The rule |
|---|---|
| British Columbia | Since 1 January 2024, employers and workers have a legal duty to cooperate in a timely and safe return to work. Employers with 20 or more regular workers also have a duty to maintain employment for an injured worker they employed for at least 1 year before the injury. WorkSafeBC offers an optional functional abilities assessment template. |
| Ontario | Employers must cooperate in early and safe return to work: make early contact, keep in touch, try to offer suitable available work and share information with the WSIB. An employer that regularly employs 20 or more workers must re-employ an injured worker who had at least 1 year of continuous employment before the injury. The WSIB's Functional Abilities Form (2647A), completed by a health professional, sets out abilities and limitations without a diagnosis. |
We have not yet confirmed the return-to-work and re-employment rules in the other provinces and territories. Check with your workers' compensation board.
Example: Back to work after a wrist injury
Sam runs a 12-person auto repair shop in Moncton. A mechanic fractures his wrist at work and his doctor says he cannot use tools with that hand for six weeks but can do light one-handed work.
Sam and the mechanic agree on a written modified duties plan: greeting customers, writing up estimates, ordering parts and doing quality checks on completed jobs, at his usual hours. They set a review in three weeks. Sam sends the plan to WorkSafeNB. When the doctor clears more use of the hand, Sam adds simple inspections and oil changes before the mechanic returns to his full job.
Disability management in the Staffkin HR Suite
The Staffkin HR Suite disability management module keeps cases, accommodations and return-to-work plans together, so modified duties and review dates are in one place.
Book a demoFree tools and guides for this
Questions about modified duties
Do I have to offer modified duties to an injured worker?
Boards expect employers to cooperate in an early and safe return to work, and some provinces have formal re-employment obligations. Human rights law may also require accommodation. Check your board's rules.
Can an injured worker refuse modified duties?
Talk to the worker and the board. Whether the work is suitable, and what happens if the worker declines it, is decided under your board's rules.
Can I ask for the worker's diagnosis?
Generally you need their functional abilities and restrictions, not their diagnosis. Ask for what you need to plan safe work.
Related terms
Official sources
- WSIB Ontario, Re-employment obligations
- WSIB Ontario, Return-to-work co-operation obligations
- WorkSafeBC, Duty to cooperate and duty to maintain employment
- WorkSafeBC, Functional abilities assessment: template for employers
General information for Canadian employers, not legal advice. Rules differ by province and territory and change over time, so check with your provincial employment standards office (or the federal Labour Program if you are federally regulated) before you rely on it. See employment standards by province.
Checked against official sources on 5 November 2026.