QRC (Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant)

A QRC is the vocational rehabilitation professional in a Minnesota workers’ comp claim. When an injury keeps you from returning to your old job (or looks like it might), rehabilitation services under Minn. Stat. § 176.102 come with a QRC who evaluates you, writes the rehabilitation plan (the R-2), coordinates with your doctor and employer, and documents everything along the way.

Two things injured workers consistently misunderstand. First, the QRC is supposed to be neutral, but the insurer usually picks the first one and pays the bills, so the paper trail the QRC creates can quietly shape your wage-loss and retraining rights. Second, you have a one-time right to change QRCs within 60 days after the rehabilitation plan is filed, and that window closes fast.

A good QRC is genuinely valuable: they push for real job placement, honest restrictions, and retraining when reemployment fails. The rehab file they build is often the single most important evidence in later disputes about whether you conducted a diligent job search or whether work was actually suitable.