Title 62 — WORKERS' COMPENSATION

Repealed by SL 1999, ch 262 , § 8.

62-4-36.1 to 62-4-36.3. Repealed by SL 1999, ch 262 , §§ 9 to 11.

No compensation may be allowed for any injury or death due to the employee's willful misconduct, including intentional self-inflicted injury, intoxication, illegal use of any schedule I or schedule II drug, or willful failure or refusal to use a safety appliance furnished by the …

If an injury for which compensation is payable under this title has been sustained under circumstances creating in some other person than the employer a legal liability to pay damages in respect thereto, the injured employee may, at the employee's option, either claim compensatio…

If compensation has been awarded and paid under this title and the employee has recovered damages from another person, the employer having paid the compensation may recover from the employee an amount equal to the amount of compensation paid by the employer to the employee, less …

Repealed by SL 1978, ch 370 , § 6.

If compensation is awarded under this title, the employer having paid the compensation, or having become liable therefor may collect in the employer's own name or that of the injured employee, or the employer's personal representative, if deceased, from any other person against w…

All rights of compensation granted by this title shall have the same preference or priority for the whole thereof against the assets of the employer as is allowed for any unpaid wages for labor. Source: SL 1917, ch 376 , § 14; RC 1919, § 9449; SDC 1939, § 64.0303.

No claim for compensation under this title is assignable, and all compensation and claims therefor are exempt from all claims of creditors except those for child and spousal support obligations. Source: SL 1917, ch 376 , § 15; RC 1919, § 9450; SDC 1939, § 64.0304; SL 1986, ch 218…

The employee may make the initial selection of the employee's medical practitioner or surgeon from among all licensed medical practitioners or surgeons in the state. The employee shall, prior to treatment, notify the employer of the choice of medical practitioner or surgeon or as…

A medical practitioner or surgeon first treating an employee shall furnish a report of the injury and treatment to the employer and the Department of Labor and Regulation within fourteen days following the first treatment. The Department of Labor and Regulation may excuse the fai…

All medical practitioners or surgeons attending injured employees shall comply with the rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26 by the Department of Labor and Regulation and shall make the reports as may be required by it. All medical and hospital information relevant to the p…

A false representation as to physical condition or health made by an employee in procuring employment shall preclude the awarding of workers' compensation benefits for an otherwise compensable injury if it is shown that the employee intentionally and willfully made a false repres…

An employer, an employer's insurer or a fellow employee may submit a written request to the Department of Labor and Regulation to terminate, modify, or temporarily stop payments to a claimant because the requester has reason to believe that a worker's compensation claim has been …

If the records or the testimony of the witness supplying the records are to be admitted at the hearing, the records and the testimony, or both, are discoverable and shall be provided to the claimant and the claimant's attorney. The department may release records, files, or other …

All investigative records and files relating to written requests made pursuant to § 62-4-47 are confidential. No disclosure of any such records, files, or other information may be made except as authorized in this section and §

If, after an injury has been sustained, the employee as a result thereof becomes partially incapacitated from pursuing the employee's usual and customary line of employment, or if the employee has been released by the employee's physician from temporary total disability and has n…

If an employee suffers disablement as defined by subdivision 62-8-1(3) or an injury and is unable to return to the employee's usual and customary line of employment, the employee shall receive compensation at the rate provided by § 62-4-3 up to sixty days from the finding of an a…

Any person or party participating in good faith in the making of a written request pursuant to § 62-4-47 is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed and has the same immunity for participation in any judicial proceeding resulting f…

Any person who knowingly files a fraudulent claim for workers' compensation benefits is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: SL 1994, ch 399 .

Terms used in § 62-4-53 mean: (1) "Community," the area within sixty road miles of the employee's residence unless: (a) The employee is physically limited to travel within a lesser distance; (b) Consideration of the wages available within sixty road miles and the cost of commutin…

An employee is permanently totally disabled if the employee's physical condition, in combination with the employee's age, training, and experience and the type of work available in the employee's community, cause the employee to be unable to secure anything more than sporadic emp…

Usual and customary line of employment is to be determined by evaluation of the following factors: (1) The skills or abilities of the person; (2) The length of time the person spent in the type of work engaged in at the time of the injury; (3) The proportion of time the person ha…

Employment is considered suitable, substantial, and gainful if: (1) It returns the employee to no less than eighty-five percent of the employee's prior wage earning capacity; or (2) It returns the employee to employment which equals or exceeds the average prevailing wage for the …

For injuries in the following schedule, an employee shall receive in addition to compensation provided by §§ 62-4-1 , 62-4-3 , and 62-4-5.1 , compensation for the following further periods, subject to the limitations as to rate and amounts fixed in § 62-4-3 , for the specific med…

Prospective application of benefit increase in §

In case death occurs as a result of the injury, then if the employee leaves any spouse, child, parent, grandparent, or lineal heir entitled to compensation under §§ 62-4-12 to 62-4-15 , inclusive, the compensation shall be paid at the option of the employer, either to the persona…

Scholarships shall be provided for the spouses and dependent children of employees who die as a result of compensable work-related injuries if the dependents are entitled to benefits pursuant to this chapter. Scholarships are payable to accredited postsecondary education institut…

Repealed by SL 1974, ch 333 , § 7.

The Department of Labor and Regulation shall set, by rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26 , the amount of the application fee. All fees paid to the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited with the state treasurer and shall be credited to the Department of Lab…

An employer seeking permission to be a self - insurer, or seeking renewal of its permission to be a self - insurer, shall furnish to the department, on a form required by the department, a bond, written by a surety company authorized by the division of insurance to write surety b…

As used in §§ 62-5-10 to 62-5-16 , inclusive, an irrevocable letter of credit shall be accepted only if it is clean, irrevocable, and contains an evergreen clause. Terms used in §§ 62-5-10 to 62-5-16 , inclusive, mean: (1) "Clean," a letter of credit that is not conditioned on th…

Surety bonds, irrevocable letters of credit, and documents showing issuance of any irrevocable letter of credit shall be deposited with, and, unless specified by statute, in a form approved by the department. Source: SL 1989, ch 453 , § 4.

Certificates of deposit or approved government securities shall be deposited on behalf of the department by the self-insured employer with the state treasurer or a financial institution approved by the department. Certificates of deposit or approved government securities shall be…

Cash shall be deposited in a financial institution approved by the department, and in the account assigned to the state treasurer. Cash shall be withdrawn only upon written order of the secretary of the Department of Labor and Regulation. Source: SL 1989, ch 453 , § 6; SL 2011, c…

Upon the secretary sending a request to renew, request to post, or request to increase a security deposit to the maximum amount permitted by §§ 62-5-10 to 62-5-16 , inclusive, a perfected security interest is created in the private self-insured's assets in favor of the secretary …

The secretary of the Department of Labor and Regulation may contract with any person, firm, or corporation qualified to administer claims of self-insured employers with respect to adjustment, administration, and management of workers' compensation claims for any self-insured empl…

Any employer may agree, as a condition of the employer's contract for the insurance of compensation and benefits as provided in Title 62, to pay an amount specified in the contract per claim toward the total amount of any claim payable under workers' compensation. The amount of p…

The existence of an insurance contract with a deductible or the fact of payment as a result of a deductible does not affect the requirement of an employer to report an injury or death as required in §

An employer may secure the payment of compensation to any employee by insuring and keeping insured the payment of the compensation with any stock corporation writing workers' compensation insurance or any mutual employer's liability association authorized to transact the business…

If an insured employer chooses a deductible, the insured employer is liable for the amount of the deductible paid for each claim of injury suffered by an employee. The insurer shall pay the entire cost of the employee's loss and then seek reimbursement from the insured employer f…

Any self-insured employer shall provide medical services and health care to injured workers for compensable injuries and diseases under a case management plan that meets the requirements established by rules promulgated by the Department of Labor and Regulation pursuant to chapte…

Repealed by SL 1996, ch 306 , § 2.

If an employer coming under the provisions of this title annually furnishes satisfactory proof to the Department of Labor and Regulation of the employer's solvency and financial ability to pay the compensation required by this title, the employer is relieved from the provisions o…

This state or any municipality or other political subdivision of the state need not furnish any insurance or security as provided by §§ 62-5-1 to 62-5-5 , inclusive, or §§ 62-5-10 to 62-5-12 , inclusive, but may do so if it desires. Source: SL 1923, ch 311 ; SDC 1939, § 64.0106 (…

Any employer other than the state, a municipality, or other political subdivision of this state, who has failed to comply with the provisions of §§ 62-5-1 to 62-5-5 , inclusive, shall be deemed to have elected not to operate under the provisions of this title. Source: SDC 1939, §…

No insurer of any obligation under this title may by himself, herself, or through another, either directly or indirectly, charge, accept, or pay as a commission or compensation for placing or renewing any insurance under this title more than fifteen percent of the premium charged…

If any insurance company operating under this chapter issues a policy of workers' compensation insurance to any employer, the company writing the insurance shall file a certificate thereof with the department. Source: SDC 1939, § 64.0506; SL 2008, ch 278 , § 38.

The report shall be made on a form approved by the Department of Labor and Regulation. Any employer who fails to file a report as required by this section is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor and is subject to an administrative fine of one hundred dollars payable to the Department …

Every employer coming under the provisions of this title shall keep a record of all injuries, fatal or otherwise, sustained by the employer's employees in the course of their employment. The record shall be completed within seven calendar days, not counting Sundays and legal holi…