Title 51, Labor and Employment; Unlawful Discrimination

When the disability is or becomes partial only and is temporary in character: (1) No disability payment is recoverable for temporary disability suffered during the first three calendar days after the worker leaves work or loses wages as a result of the compensable injury. If the …

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Impairment” means the loss of use or function of a body part or system due to the compensable industrial injury or occupational disease determined in accordance with the standards provided under ORS 656.726, expressed as a percentage of the whole…

(1) Compensation for permanent partial disability may be paid monthly at 4.35 times the rate per week as provided for compensation for temporary total disability at the time the determination is made. In no case shall such payments be less than $108.75 per month. (2) If a worker,…

(1) In case of the death of a worker entitled to compensation, whether eligibility therefor or the amount thereof has been determined, payments shall be made for the period during which the worker, if surviving, would have been entitled thereto. (2) If the worker’s death occurs p…

Should a further accident occur to a worker who is receiving compensation for a temporary disability, or who has been paid or awarded compensation for a permanent disability, the award of compensation for such further accident shall be made with regard to the combined effect of t…

In accepted injury or occupational disease claims, disability solely caused by or medical services solely directed to a worker’s preexisting condition are not compensable unless: (1) In occupational disease or injury claims other than those involving a preexisting mental disorder…

If, prior to and including the date of an accidental injury received by one or the other as a subject worker, two unmarried individuals have cohabited together such that the relationship would be subject to the provisions of ORS 107.105 to 107.136 and 107.700 to 107.735, the surv…

(1) If compensation is payable for the benefit of a beneficiary other than the injured worker, the insurer or the self-insured employer may segregate any additional compensation payable on account of that beneficiary and make payment directly to the beneficiary, if sui juris; oth…

(1) When a worker has been awarded compensation for permanent partial disability, and the total amount of the award does not exceed $6,000, the insurer or the self-insured employer shall pay the total amount of the award to the worker in a lump sum payment. (2)(a) Subject to para…

(1) If a beneficiary is a noncitizen residing outside of the United States or its dependencies, payment of the sums due such beneficiary may, in the discretion of the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, be made to the consul general of the country in whi…

(1) No moneys payable under this chapter on account of injuries or death are subject to assignment prior to their receipt by the beneficiary entitled thereto, nor shall they pass by operation of law. All such moneys and the right to receive them are exempt from seizure on executi…

(1)(a) The parties to a claim, by agreement, may make such disposition of any or all matters regarding a claim, except for medical services, as the parties consider reasonable, subject to such terms and conditions as the Workers’ Compensation Board may prescribe. For the purposes…

Notwithstanding any other law, an employer, with the consent of the worker, may deduct from any sick leave payments made to an individual amounts equal to benefits received by the individual under this chapter with respect to the same injury that gave rise to the sick leave. Howe…

(1)(a) For every compensable injury, the insurer or the self-insured employer shall cause to be provided medical services for conditions caused in material part by the injury for such period as the nature of the injury or the process of the recovery requires, subject to the limit…

(1) Except for medical services provided to workers subject to ORS 656.245 (4)(b)(B), payment for medical services provided to a subject worker in response to an initial claim for a work-related injury or occupational disease from the date of the employer’s notice or knowledge of…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, in compliance with ORS 656.794 and ORS chapter 183, shall promulgate rules for developing and publishing fee schedules for medical services provided under this chapter. These schedules shall represent the reimb…

A physical therapist shall not provide compensable services to injured workers governed by this chapter except as allowed by a governing managed care organization contract or as authorized by the worker’s attending physician or nurse practitioner authorized to provide compensable…

(1) In order to ensure the prompt and correct reporting and payment of compensation in compensable injuries, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall make rules governing audits of medical service bills and reports by attending and consulting physici…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall establish medical report forms, in duplicate snap-outs where applicable, to be used by insurers, self-insured employers and physicians, including in such forms information necessary to establish facts requ…

Whenever the Workers’ Compensation Division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services adopts any rule affecting a type A or B rural hospital, the division shall take into consideration the risk assessment formula set forth in ORS 442.520 (2). [1991 c.947 §19]

The insurer or self-insured employer shall pay a vocational assistance provider for all vocational assistance services, including the cost of an evaluation to determine whether a worker is eligible for vocational assistance, that are performed at the request of the insurer or sel…

(1) Any health care provider or group of medical service providers may make written application to the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services to become certified to provide managed care to injured workers for injuries and diseases compensable under this chap…

(1) Processing of claims and providing compensation for a worker shall be the responsibility of the insurer or self-insured employer. All employers shall assist their insurers in processing claims as required in this chapter. (2) The compensation due under this chapter shall be p…

All notices of proceedings required to be sent under ORS 656.262, 656.265, 656.268 to 656.289, 656.295 to 656.325, 656.382 to 656.388 and this section shall be sent to the employer and the insurer, if any. [1967 c.97 §2; 1975 c.556 §42]

(1) Insurers and self-insured employers shall report to the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services compensable injuries, denied claims, claims disposition and payments made by them under this chapter. (2) The director may require insurers and self-insured em…

(1)(a) Notice of an accident resulting in an injury or death shall be given immediately by the worker or a beneficiary of the worker to the employer, but not later than 90 days after the accident. The employer shall acknowledge forthwith receipt of such notice. (b) Notwithstandin…

(1) The burden of proving that an injury or occupational disease is compensable and of proving the nature and extent of any disability resulting therefrom is upon the worker. The worker cannot carry the burden of proving that an injury or occupational disease is compensable merel…

(1) To initiate omitted medical condition claims under ORS 656.262 (6)(d) or new medical condition claims under this section, the worker must clearly request formal written acceptance of a new medical condition or an omitted medical condition from the insurer or self-insured empl…

(1) One purpose of this chapter is to restore the injured worker as soon as possible and as near as possible to a condition of self support and maintenance as an able-bodied worker. The insurer or self-insured employer shall close the worker’s claim, as prescribed by the Director…

(1) After the last award or arrangement of compensation, an injured worker is entitled to additional compensation for worsened conditions resulting from the original injury. A worsened condition resulting from the original injury is established by medical evidence of an actual wo…

(1)(a) A request for reclassification by the worker of an accepted nondisabling injury that the worker believes was or has become disabling must be submitted to the insurer or self-insured employer. The insurer or self-insured employer shall classify the claim as disabling or non…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, the power and jurisdiction of the Workers’ Compensation Board shall be continuing, and it may, upon its own motion, from time to time modify, change or terminate former findings, orders or awards if in its opinion such act…

(1) Subject to ORS 656.319, any party or the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may at any time request a hearing on any matter concerning a claim, except matters for which a procedure for resolving the dispute is provided in another statute, including O…

ORCP 36 C shall apply to workers’ compensation cases, except that the Administrative Law Judge shall make the determinations and orders required of the court in ORCP 36 C, and in addition attorney fees shall not be declared as a matter of course but only in cases of harassment or…

(1) Where there is an issue regarding loss of earning capacity, reports from vocational consultants employed by governmental agencies, insurers or self-insured employers, or from private vocational consultants, regarding job opportunities, the fitness of claimant to perform certa…

(1) Upon the conclusion of any hearing, or prior thereto with concurrence of the parties, the Administrative Law Judge shall promptly and not later than 30 days after the hearing determine the matter and make an order in accordance with the Administrative Law Judge’s determinatio…

(1) The Workers’ Compensation Board, by rule, shall establish an Expedited Claim Service to provide for prompt, informal disposition of claims. (2) The board shall assign to the service those claims: (a) For which a hearing has been requested when the only matters unresolved do n…

(1) The request for review by the Workers’ Compensation Board of an order of an Administrative Law Judge need only state that the party requests a review of the order. (2) The requests for review shall be mailed to the board and copies of the request shall be mailed to all partie…

(1) Within the time limit specified in ORS 656.295, any party affected by an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board, including orders issued pursuant to ORS 656.278, may request judicial review of the order by the Court of Appeals. (2) The name and style of the proceedings shal…

A claimant may accept and cash any check given in payment of any award or compensation without affecting the right to a hearing, except that the right of hearing on any award shall be waived by acceptance of a lump sum award by a claimant where such lump sum award was granted as …

(1)(a) Where there is an issue regarding: (A) Which of several subject employers is the true employer of a claimant worker; (B) Which of more than one insurer of a certain employer is responsible for payment of compensation to a worker; (C) Responsibility between two or more empl…

(1) When a worker sustains a compensable injury, the responsible employer shall remain responsible for future compensable medical services and disability relating to the compensable condition unless the worker sustains a new compensable injury involving the same condition. If a n…

(1) In any proceeding for the enforcement of a claim for compensation under this chapter, there is a rebuttable presumption that: (a) Sufficient notice of injury was given and timely filed; and (b) The injury was not occasioned by the willful intention of the injured worker to co…

(1)(a) Filing by an employer or the insurer of a request for hearing on a reconsideration order before the Hearings Division, a request for Workers’ Compensation Board review or court appeal or request for review of an order of the Director of the Department of Consumer and Busin…

(1) With respect to objection by a claimant to denial of a claim for compensation under ORS 656.262, a hearing thereon shall not be granted and the claim shall not be enforceable unless: (a) A request for hearing is filed not later than the 60th day after the mailing of the denia…

(1)(a) Any worker entitled to receive compensation under this chapter is required, if requested by the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, the insurer or self-insured employer, to submit to a medical examination at a time reasonably convenient for the wo…

(1)(a) If an injured worker, an insurer or self-insured employer or the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services believes that the medical treatment, not subject to ORS 656.260, that the injured worker has received, is receiving, will receive or is proposed to…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall maintain a list of providers that are authorized to perform independent medical examinations. (2) A provider on the list maintained by the director under subsection (1) of this section may be excluded from…

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if an injured worker is represented by an attorney and the attorney has given written notice of such representation: (a) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, the insurer or self-insured employer…

(1)(a) The insurer or self-insured employer shall cause vocational assistance to be provided to an injured worker who is eligible for assistance in returning to work. (b) For this purpose the insurer or self-insured employer shall contact a worker with a claim for a disabling com…