Your work. Your records.
Occupational Therapist Workplace Records
Occupational therapy can involve assessment, treatment planning and adapting activities across clinical or community settings. An employment concern should identify your assigned responsibilities and the workplace decision involved. Describe the service in general terms, leaving patient history and individual rehabilitation goals out of your personal file.
Call now(800) 800-5555Free initial case evaluation. Representation depends on work state and case eligibility. This guide explains record preparation; it does not determine whether a legal claim exists.
A record map for your role
What to organize first
Role and setting
Identify your employer and the clinical or community setting without patient names or details.
Expectation history
List changes to documentation or session targets and the date each was communicated.
Employment response
Pair your own review or assignment notice with your response, excluding rehabilitation files.
Start with the work you actually do
Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.
O*NET classifies this occupation as Occupational Therapists (29-1122.00). Its description covers a typical occupation, not every workplace or individual job. It does not establish employee status, overtime eligibility or employer misconduct.
- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.Source task 349 · updated 08/2021
- Complete and maintain necessary records.Source task 347 · updated 08/2021
- Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.Source task 351 · updated 08/2021
- Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.Source task 358 · updated 08/2021
A reference point for your pay records
May 2025 wage estimates by state
Compare your pay records with published BLS estimates for Occupational Therapists (SOC 29-1122). These describe an occupation across employers. They are not a required pay rate, an overtime calculation, or evidence of discrimination or unpaid wages.
Select your work state to see its published pay range. No personal pay information is requested or sent.
The 25th and 75th percentiles mark the middle half of the estimated wage distribution; the median is its midpoint. Actual pay can differ with experience, employer, location and duties. Hourly and annual figures are shown as published, without converting one into the other.
All published state estimates for this occupation
| State | Hourly 25th | Hourly median | Hourly 75th | Annual median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $39.67 | $45.21 | $51.76 | $94,050 |
| Alaska | $48.30 | $49.85 | $59.69 | $103,680 |
| Arizona | $41.34 | $49.84 | $59.09 | $103,660 |
| Arkansas | $39.33 | $51.14 | $61.65 | $106,360 |
| Connecticut | $40.81 | $49.25 | $53.68 | $102,440 |
| Delaware | $43.68 | $49.10 | $58.24 | $102,130 |
| Florida | $39.11 | $47.77 | $50.40 | $99,360 |
| Georgia | $39.58 | $50.01 | $57.00 | $104,010 |
| Hawaii | $41.30 | $49.46 | $54.00 | $102,870 |
| Idaho | $41.05 | $47.00 | $52.27 | $97,760 |
| Indiana | $39.40 | $46.65 | $50.33 | $97,020 |
| Iowa | $36.45 | $43.22 | $49.57 | $89,910 |
| Kansas | $39.42 | $47.68 | $51.75 | $99,170 |
| Kentucky | $38.52 | $46.95 | $50.59 | $97,650 |
| Louisiana | $34.78 | $47.35 | $51.87 | $98,490 |
| Maine | $37.39 | $40.53 | $47.60 | $84,310 |
| Michigan | $38.17 | $43.23 | $48.11 | $89,910 |
| Minnesota | $39.19 | $44.74 | $48.15 | $93,050 |
| Mississippi | $38.19 | $45.64 | $50.22 | $94,930 |
| Missouri | $39.05 | $46.77 | $51.05 | $97,290 |
| Montana | $38.39 | $42.79 | $49.10 | $88,990 |
| Nebraska | $38.63 | $45.07 | $49.31 | $93,740 |
| New Hampshire | $37.88 | $40.34 | $49.16 | $83,900 |
| New Mexico | $40.28 | $47.68 | $58.15 | $99,170 |
| New York | $37.01 | $46.34 | $55.00 | $96,390 |
| North Carolina | $37.26 | $44.68 | $50.40 | $92,940 |
| North Dakota | $37.12 | $40.00 | $47.73 | $83,200 |
| Ohio | $39.35 | $47.78 | $51.87 | $99,390 |
| Oklahoma | $42.38 | $50.14 | $58.23 | $104,300 |
| Pennsylvania | $39.37 | $47.33 | $54.00 | $98,440 |
| Rhode Island | $40.73 | $48.10 | $51.52 | $100,040 |
| South Dakota | $38.81 | $40.89 | $48.05 | $85,050 |
| Tennessee | $39.30 | $46.97 | $51.56 | $97,700 |
| Texas | $41.26 | $51.03 | $61.46 | $106,140 |
| Utah | $41.05 | $46.71 | $50.02 | $97,150 |
| Vermont | $38.68 | $44.87 | $49.28 | $93,340 |
| Virginia | $40.26 | $48.42 | $57.09 | $100,710 |
| West Virginia | $36.01 | $46.25 | $51.75 | $96,190 |
| Wisconsin | $37.71 | $44.42 | $49.15 | $92,390 |
| Wyoming | $37.30 | $41.43 | $49.69 | $86,170 |
“Not published” preserves unavailable or suppressed source cells. “Above reporting limit” preserves a top-coded source value without inventing a number. A missing state estimate does not establish service eligibility. The data describe wage and salary employment; they do not measure self-employment income.
Source: BLS May 2025 state workbook · OEWS tables · BLS technical notes. Use your own schedule, pay statement and compensation terms to identify the question you want reviewed.
Separate clinical planning from management direction
Record who assigned the program and who changed scheduling, documentation or staffing expectations. If feedback references a treatment decision, describe the instruction and your response without drawing clinical conclusions in the employment summary. Note which approvals or resources were outside your control.
Describe work beyond sessions
List preparation, documentation, coordination and travel between assigned settings relevant to your own schedule. Compare these with your time records and any correction request. A completed-session total may not describe every duty, but it also does not establish how long you individually worked.
Keep rehabilitation records protected
Do not copy evaluations, patient images, adaptive-equipment plans or client communications into personal storage. Identify relevant record types for appropriate handling guidance. Keep your own job description and evaluation separately, especially when a staffing organization and treatment facility directed different aspects of the work.
Choose your next step
Review the workplace retaliation guide, unpaid wages guide, or discrimination guide if those concerns fit your experience. A job title alone does not establish a claim.
Call now(800) 800-5555Current service-state coverage
AK, AL, AR, AZ, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY. Eligibility is evaluated individually; this list does not promise representation.
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