Work Restrictions

Why restrictions matter more than they appear to

A restriction looks like a medical instruction. It functions as a legal document.

Restrictions decide whether you are on temporary total disability or temporary partial disability. They decide whether a light duty offer is suitable employment you must accept, or unsuitable work you may justifiably refuse. They shape the evidence a Judge of Compensation Claims will eventually weigh, and they feed into the vocational analysis in any permanent total disability claim.

The single sheet your doctor fills out after a fifteen minute appointment is one of the most consequential documents in your claim.

What restrictions look like

• Lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling limits — expressed in pounds, sometimes with frequency (“occasional” versus “frequent”)
• Positional limits — maximum time sitting, standing, or walking
• Postural limits — no overhead reaching, bending, squatting, kneeling, climbing, or ladder work
• Hour limits — reduced shifts or no overtime
• Environmental limits — no driving, no heat exposure, no operating machinery
• No-work status — taken out of work entirely, which puts you on TTD

Restrictions are also either temporary or permanent. Permanent restrictions assigned at maximum medical improvement carry into any impairment or permanent total disability analysis.

Where restrictions go wrong

• Never updated. Restrictions from three months ago no longer reflect your condition, but the employer is still working you to them — in either direction.
• Too vague to enforce. “Light duty” written with no specifics is unenforceable. Ask for pounds, hours, and specific prohibited movements.
• You never received a copy. Injured workers routinely learn their restrictions from their employer rather than their doctor. Request the DWC-25 after every visit.
• A full duty release that doesn’t match how you feel. This is not simply an inconvenience — it can end wage benefits immediately. Raise it with the doctor at the appointment and get it into the record.
• The doctor didn’t hear about your actual job. Physicians often set restrictions without knowing what your work involves. If your job requires ladder work, say so; a restriction that does not mention ladders will not protect you.
• Employers exceeding them. Common and rarely documented. Report it to the doctor so it enters the medical record rather than living only in your memory.

What this means for your claim

Treat every appointment as an opportunity to get the record right. Describe your actual job duties, describe what you genuinely cannot do, and ask for a copy of the DWC-25 before you leave.

Then read it. If the restrictions don’t match the conversation you just had—and they often don’t—raise it immediately rather than waiting for the next visit. The gap between what you told the doctor and what the form says is where a large share of Florida claims quietly go wrong.

If your restrictions are consistently inaccurate, the one time change of physician exists for exactly that situation.