Annual Award Presentation

Each year, MWCEA is proud to honor award recipients with a presentation ceremony at the Annual Educational Conference. Both the Recovery and Return (R&R) Award and the Chairman’s Award for Business Excellence are currently accepting nominations, and the winners will be announced at the Educational Conference in April. 

We encourage all eligible employers and workers to apply for these awards, as well as welcoming nominations on others’ behalf by members of the community. Click below to view the award criteria and submit your nominations.

Recovery and Return (R&R) Award

The Recovery & Return Award is presented annually to a worker injured on the job in Mississippi that has demonstrated exceptional motivation to obtain physical recovery and return to the productive workforce. Click each title to learn more.

This award is presented to acknowledge the fundamental purpose of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Law: to restore injured workers to health and vocational opportunity; and to recognize excellent effort by an injured worker to achieve those goals.

A nominee for the Recovery & Return Award must be a worker who:

  • Was injured on the job in Mississippi
  • Has obtained physical recovery (MMI) and returned to employment
  • Demonstrated exceptional motivation in complying with medical treatment and focus on speedy recovery
  • Demonstrated the desire and willingness to return to work in all medically approved capacities
  • Maintained meaningful communication with employer regarding recovery progress and desire to return to work in accommodated or other capacity

Any worker injured in Mississippi who meets the above criteria is eligible for award nomination. The process is begun by completing an application from the MWCEA website.

All applications are reviewed by a MWCEA panel of at least five judges. Judges may not participate in scoring if their own organization has submitted entries. Entries are rated and scored in each area of the award criteria on a scale of 1-10.

The winning entry will be announced at the annual Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Educational Association’s annual conference/meeting in April each year, and will hold that status until the next year. The winner will also provide a program at the MWCEA conference of its unique application of work comp effectiveness with a presentation up to 5 minutes.

Nomination/Application Due: February 1, 2019

Completion of Judging and Panel Determination: March 15, 2019

Presentation of Award and Winner Acknowledgment: MWCEA Conference April 10-12, 2019

Submit a Nomination for the R&R Award

Mississippi's Outstanding Employer in Workers' Compensation

The Mississippi Outstanding Employer in Workers’ Compensation Award is a joint effort between the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Educational Association (MWCEA) and the Mississippi Association of Self-Insurers (MASI).  The goal is to recognize and honor Mississippi employers that understand and appreciate the value of a viable workers’ compensation program, that have a good focus on safety, that regularly try to do “the right thing” regarding payments to be made, and that diligently strive to accomplish the goals of facilitating return to work post-injury.

This is an annual award given to a Mississippi employer who understands and appreciates the benefits of a viable workers’ compensation program, who has a good focus on safety, who regularly tries to “do the right thing” regarding payments to be made, and who diligently strives to accomplish the goals of facilitating return to work post-injury. 

The award would be made each year, alternating between the MWCEA and MASI’s annual conferences.

MWCEA and MASI will be jointly involved in the development of the criteria for award recognition as well as in the promotion and selection of award recipients each year.   Each Board will designate 3 members of a joint committee charged with establishing the criteria, soliciting and evaluating nominations, and recommending one of more recipients to each of the Boards. Each Board has authority to approve the recommendation.

Recipients of the award will receive a unique plaque, and a smaller plaque or other acknowledgement will be prepared for display at the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission offices as well as at MASI’s offices for each recipient.

The deadline for this submission is March 4, 2022

Download the Nomination Form

Submit nominations to Nancy Flint at nflint@acblaw.com.