Details of Employer Responsibilities
Texas workers’ compensation law and your insurance policy give you important responsibilities. Even if you never have a claim, you still have requirements, such as posting Texas Department of Insurance divison of workers' compensation (DWC) notices.
Reporting injuries
You must report all on-the-job illnesses and injuries to Texas Mutual Insurance Company—if possible, on the same day they occur. The law gives you a choice about how you report claims: you may report online, call, fax or mail the first report of injury to us. The law allows employers up to eight days to file the Employer's First Report of Injury or Illness; however, the sooner you report the injury to us, the sooner we can help with the claim.
At the same time you report the injury to us, you must give a copy of the injury report to the injured employee, along with a copy of DWC’s “Employee Rights and Responsibilities” in English and Spanish or in English and any other language common to the employee. You also must keep a log of the dates when you report claims to us, and provide a copy of the First Report of Injury and Employee Rights and Responsibilities to the employee.
Note: If you do not file an initial report of injury within the eight-day period, you waive the right to reimbursement for voluntary payments.
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Reporting wages
If you know the injured employee is going to be off work or have reduced wages for eight days or more, you must file the Employer’s Wage Statement, when you report the injury to us. At the very latest, you must file a signed and dated Employer's Wage Statement with us and the injured employee within 30 days of the eighth day the employee has accrued lost or reduced wages.
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Supplemental reports
You must file the Supplemental Report of Injury, to keep us informed about changes that affect payment of benefits. You must submit this form whenever the employee:
- begins to miss work because of the injury;
- returns to work;
- has a change in earnings or loses more time from work because of the injury; or
- dies, resigns, or is terminated from employment.
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Record keeping
You must keep a record of all injuries to employees that have been reported or made known to you. These records must be open to inspection by DWC. You must keep these records at least five years after the end of the year in which the injury occurred.
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Posting notices
As a subscriber, you must post the “Notice to Employees Concerning Workers’ Compensation in Texas” in your personnel office and in break rooms or other areas frequented by employees. This notice must be posted in English and Spanish and in any other language common to your employee population.
NOTE: TWCC changed the wording to the notices required for both subscribers and non-subscribers, effective August 1, 2000. Contact a Texas Mutual® representative to ensure you have the most current version of the notice.
Carriers usually send copies of these notices to employers with their workers’ compensation policy documents. To request copies of this notice in Vietnamese or other languages or for more copies in English and Spanish, call our information services center at (800) 859-5995.
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Written notice to new employees
When you have workers’ compensation coverage, you must notify new employees of your coverage status, in writing, when they are hired (at the same time federal law requires them to fill out the W-4 and I-9 forms) or the first day they report back to work after a break in service (at the same time they fill out a W-4 form).
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DWC violations
DWC may fine you up to $500 for failure to perform these responsibilities or for failure to perform them timely. Additionally, DWC may fine you up to $10,000 for repeatedly failing to file an initial report of injury in accordance with DWC rules.
Note: If your coverage status changes, you must give your employees written notice of the change. See “Responsibilities of non-subscribers” below.
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Responsibilities of non-subscribers
Although the law does not require all employers to subscribe to workers’ compensation coverage, it does require non-subscribing employers to inform their employees and DWC of their status as non-subscribers.
Specifically, the law requires all non-subscribers to:
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File an annual notice of no coverage with DWC;
- Prominently display English and Spanish notices of non-coverage in the personnel office and throughout the workplace;
- Give a written statement of non-coverage to each new employee when hired; and
- Give a written statement of non-coverage to each employee when you cancel or lose your coverage.
For more information, call DWC at (512) 804-4345.