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Will the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation begin
requiring applicants for Supplemental Income Benefits to provide material evidence of job
applications they have submitted in their search for work? It sure looks that
way.
In a memo to stakeholders on August 17, General Counsel Kara Mace enclosed
proposed changes to the DWC Form-052, Supplemental
Income Benefits Application. The proposed revision includes an FAQ
page with the following guidance for applicants who are looking for work on
their own:
Show you were actively looking for a job by attaching job applications or other documents showing you were looking for a job.
If the Division adopts the proposed version, and if it requires SIBs applicants
to actually attach job applications to the Form-052, that would be a welcome
change. Currently, Division ALJs typically do not require a SIBs applicant to
submit material evidence of job applications they have submitted. Instead, the
Division’s position is that an applicant’s assertion,
on the Form-052, that he submitted applications is sufficient documentation of
such applications.
Of course, many stakeholders disagree with the Division’s position, and that
position is one reason that Accident Fund Insurance Company of America,
represented by this Firm, filed an action for declaratory relief in the Travis
County district court challenging the validity and applicability of the
Division’s SIBs rule. As we have reported previously, the district court held
the rule invalid, the Division appealed, and the Austin court of appeals issued
a decision on February 28, 2023. Texas
Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation v. Accident Fund
Insurance Company of America, et al. A petition for review is
currently pending in the Supreme Court of Texas.
We will continue to monitor and report on the proposed changes to the
Form-052.
Copyright 2023, Stone Loughlin & Swanson, LLP