Plan ahead for higher-than-normal workloads for vocational services specialists (VSS)

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries sent this bulletin at 08/18/2026 03:14 PM PDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
NewsFrom ReturnToWorkHeader

Plan ahead for higher-than-normal workloads for vocational services specialists (VSS)

Attention all vocational firm owners and managers: Please share with your staff.

The Vocational Services Specialists (VSS) team is currently short-staffed. We are adjusting unit coverage to ensure that we can address your inquiries while we work on recruitment efforts.  

Please consider these tips to help us best serve you.

  • Before calling, check our online resource, Contact Us About Vocational Services, which provides the most up-to-date unit and supervisor assignments for our team.
  • Check for self-service resources available in the VRC Resource Library and What’s New for Vocational providers, whenever possible.
  • When leaving a voicemail, provide the claim number and your availability for a return call. If you receive a return call from a VSS who is not the assigned unit VSS, please return their call, rather than calling the assigned unit VSS.
  • Plan ahead and leave as much time as possible to account for potential delays.

How it works on our end:

  • We prioritize retraining plans based on legislative requirements. All other work items are prioritized in order of date received.
  • It takes an average of six days for imaging processes to be completed. VSS cannot directly image documents to the claim file.

Before calling, check Claim & Account Center to confirm the following:

  • All documents are shown in the claim file.
  • All pages within each document are shown in the claim file.
  • None of the items were mis-imaged in the claim file (for example: incorrect index code).

Call a VSS for time-sensitive issues, such as:

  • Addressing worker and vocational rehabilitation counselor (VRC) safety concerns.
  • The VSS has not acted on an item submitted to L&I that was imaged for more than 10 calendar days (14 days for retraining plans).
  • Possibly receiving a vocational referral in error.
  • Needing assistance to resolve complex claim barriers.

Call the claim manager for questions about:

  • Time loss
  • Medical scheduling
  • Claim adjudication

If the claim manager is not available, stay on the line and leave a message with support staff to ensure you receive a call back.

Email the Vocational Recovery Project with any questions.

This memo will be posted to L&I’s “What’s New for Vocational Counselors” page.