Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ Compensation laws are based upon the theory that the burden of on-the-job injuries should be shifted from the worker to the employing business and, ultimately, to the consuming public as a cost of doing business. These laws protect and benefit the employee by providing speedy, simple, effective and inexpensive relief without regard to the fault of the employer, the employee or third parties.

Prior to the enactment of such laws, injured workers often were denied any compensation for work-related injuries. In cases where they were granted relief by the courts, it was usually only after a lengthy and expensive process.

In 1913, the legislature passed Texas’ first workers’ compensation law, but it did not apply to state employees.  It was not until 1973 that a workers’ compensation statute was passed that is applicable to most state employees (Texas Civil Statutes, Article 8309g, now recodified as Chapter 501 of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act). Under this statute, the state is self-insuring with respect to an employee’s compensable injury.

An employee may notify his/her employer within five days of beginning work that they do not want to be covered by workers’ compensation and prefer to keep the common-law right to recover damages for personal injury or death.  If the employee does not choose this option, then Workers’ Compensation is that employee’s exclusive remedy for an on-the-job injury. This means that the employee may not sue the employer or co-workers for damages.

Workers’ Compensation claims of state employees are filed with, and determined by, the State Office of Risk Management, but income and medical benefits disputes are adjudicated by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC).

A state employee who has not opted out of the coverage, as discussed above, and who sustains an injury in the course of employment is entitled to receive compensation under this system. In the case of a fatality, the deceased employee’s legal beneficiaries are entitled to benefits. The term “injury” includes occupational diseases.

Once an employee has sustained a work-related injury that requires medical assistance, he/she must seek the appropriate care as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the employee to inform the medical professionals that the injury is work-related. The employee also needs to notify his/her supervisor. The claimant must then complete the following forms and forward them to EHS&RM as soon as possible after the incident.