P.E.P. Program

The Montana Schools Group Insurance Authority is committed to providing our members with value added services targeted at saving your district money on workers’ compensation costs. With this in mind, we are pleased to provide the MSGIA Pre Employment Physical (P.E.P.) program.

MSGIA will pay for the cost of a pre-placement physical for new hires in member districts’ maintenance and custodial positions as well as food service workers; we encourage our member districts to utilize this service. These pre-employment physicals include the review and development of the district’s current functional job description and the actual physical screening of the job applicant.

Pre-placement physicals are an employer’s opportunity to have a medical professional assess whether an individual has the physical capabilities to perform the minimum physical requirements of the position they have been offered by the school district. If an individual does not have the physical capabilities to perform the minimum requirements of a position, it creates a poor match for the prospective employee and the employer. The mismatch is an indication the employee is at greater risk for physical injury and that certain requirements of the position would not be able to be completed by the prospective employee.

For assistance, please contact Kevin Bartsch, Assistant Director WC Pool Operations, at 406-457-4500 or kbartsch@mtsba.org.

Frequently Asked Questions 
Question:  Do we have to complete these physicals on all new hires?
Answer:  No.  However, it is important for an employer who elects to use these to use them for all new hires in the same type of position.  Thus, you can elect to only have certain positions require pre-employment physicals.  For example, you can elect to have all employees offered positions as custodians be required to take a physical but not employees offered teaching positions.  However, it is very important that once pre-employment physicals have been mandated that you are consistent in applying the policy to that group of employees.

Question:  Do we have to complete these physicals on every person who applies for a position?
Answer: No.  It is customary to only require this for the applicant that you provide a conditional offer of employment to.  This is your top candidate only.  You go through your normal hire process. You screen your applications; you complete the interview process and select the individual you feel is most qualified for the position.  You then offer the position to that individual contingent upon them passing the physical.

Question: What happens if an individual does not pass the physical?
Answer: It is still the school’s option as to whether the individual is hired.  In some cases, the school may elect to put the individual in a position more suited to their physical capabilities.  The school needs to look at if the prospective employee can be reasonably accommodated.  A district wants to assure that any persons that will be hired can perform the minimum physical requirements of the position and if not can a reasonable accommodation be made?  Once this has been answered by the district they can make their final determination as to the hiring decision.

Question: Do individuals who are hired as substitutes have to pass the physical?
Answer: It depends.  This process normally only applies to persons applying for and being awarded a contingent job offer for a permanent part time or full time maintenance/custodian position.  However, if the district regularly maintains a substitute list for maintenance and custodial workers, then each person who is placed on the substitute list should receive a PEP to ensure they are not at higher risk for injury and can safely perform the essential functions of the position.

Question: What about individuals who substitute in more than one area?  For example, they are on the substitute call list for custodians and for para educators?
Answer: If an individual is on a substitute listing for custodial and maintenance work then we would advise having them perform a PEP.  Even though the other position may have some other functional duties not present in the PEP, only those essential functions for the custodial and maintenance position are covered expenses by the MSGIA under this PEP program.

Question: Who can a school district hire to perform these pre-employment physicals?
Answer: We recommend that you have an MD or a physical therapist complete the physicals.  It is common for one clinic, MD, or PT to handle the pre-employment physicals for a district.  The MSGIA will require prior approval of a referral to a medical professional other then a PT or MD.  

Question:  If a school district implements physicals for more than one group of employees, do they undergo the same physical?
Answer: No.  It is extremely important that the physical be based on the essential/minimum physical job functions of each position to which this process is to be applied.  If the physical is not based on the essential functions of a position then the results will not be of value.  In most cases, the job descriptions used for the postings are not sufficient in this regard.  A more thorough review of each class of employees is normally done by the medical professional in advance to assure they have a full understanding of the minimum physical requirements for that type of position.  This is normally done once for each class of position and that review is kept on file to be used as the benchmark for the physicals. 

Question: Who determines what physical capabilities are required to perform a position.
Answer: In order to get this understanding, the provider who is going to complete the physicals must work closely with the school district to ensure what is required in the position.  The district can provide the MD or PT with a functional job description which details the essential requirements of the position.   In some instances, WCRRP can assist you in this area.

Question: Does a school district have to pay for physicals for our current staff if a new procedure such as this is implemented?
Answer: No.  This only applies to new hires after the policy is put into place.  

Question: What is the cost of a physical?
Answer: Depending on the provider, the most common range of costs could run between $75 and $200.  The school district would only pay these costs if it pertains to a position other than Maintenance and Custodial positions, as these are covered in the PEP program.

Question: What benefit will pre-employment physicals have on the school district?
Answer: This critical step in the hiring process will ensure that new hires possess the minimal physical capabilities to perform the functions that they are being hired for.  If not the analysis by the district will have been completed to determine if a reasonable accommodation could be made for the potential applicant.   The process also provides greater assurance of a good long term fit for the employee and the employer.  Longevity can create many benefits for both parties.