Title LA, Labor Code

Sec. 408.103. AMOUNT OF TEMPORARY INCOME BENEFITS. (a) Subject to Sections 408.061 and 408.062, the amount of a temporary income benefit is equal to: (1) 70 percent of the amount computed by subtracting the employee's weekly earnings after the injury from the employee's average w…

Sec. 408.104. MAXIMUM MEDICAL IMPROVEMENT AFTER SPINAL SURGERY. (a) On application by either the employee or the insurance carrier, the commissioner by order may extend the 104-week period described by Section 401.011(30)(B) if the employee has had spinal surgery, or has been app…

Sec. 408.105. SALARY CONTINUATION IN LIEU OF TEMPORARY INCOME BENEFITS. (a) In lieu of payment of temporary income benefits under this subchapter, an employer may continue to pay the salary of an employee who sustains a compensable injury under a contractual obligation between th…

Sec. 408.121. IMPAIRMENT INCOME BENEFITS. (a) An employee's entitlement to impairment income benefits begins on the day after the date the employee reaches maximum medical improvement and ends on the earlier of: (1) the date of expiration of a period computed at the rate of three…

Sec. 408.122. ELIGIBILITY FOR IMPAIRMENT INCOME BENEFITS. A claimant may not recover impairment income benefits unless evidence of impairment based on an objective clinical or laboratory finding exists. If the finding of impairment is made by a doctor chosen by the claimant and t…

Sec. 408.1225. DESIGNATED DOCTOR. (a) To be eligible to serve as a designated doctor, a doctor must maintain an active certification by the division. (a-1) The commissioner by rule shall develop a process for the certification of a designated doctor. (a-2) The rules adopted by th…

Sec. 408.123. CERTIFICATION OF MAXIMUM MEDICAL IMPROVEMENT; EVALUATION OF IMPAIRMENT RATING. (a) After an employee has been certified by a doctor as having reached maximum medical improvement, the certifying doctor shall evaluate the condition of the employee and assign an impair…

Sec. 408.124. IMPAIRMENT RATING GUIDELINES. (a) An award of an impairment income benefit, whether by the commissioner or a court, must be based on an impairment rating determined using the impairment rating guidelines described by this section. (b) For determining the existence a…

Sec. 408.125. DISPUTE AS TO IMPAIRMENT RATING. (a) If an impairment rating is disputed, the commissioner shall direct the employee to the next available doctor on the division's list of designated doctors, as provided by Section 408.0041. (b) The designated doctor shall report in…

Sec. 408.126. AMOUNT OF IMPAIRMENT INCOME BENEFITS. Subject to Sections 408.061 and 408.062, an impairment income benefit is equal to 70 percent of the employee's average weekly wage. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 408.127. REDUCTION OF IMPAIRMENT INCOME BENEFITS. (a) An insurance carrier shall reduce impairment income benefits to an employee by an amount equal to employer payments made under Section 408.003 that are not reimbursed or reimbursable under that section. (b) The insurance …

Sec. 408.128. COMMUTATION OF IMPAIRMENT INCOME BENEFITS. (a) An employee may elect to commute the remainder of the impairment income benefits to which the employee is entitled if the employee has returned to work for at least three months, earning at least 80 percent of the emplo…

Sec. 408.129. ACCELERATION OF IMPAIRMENT INCOME BENEFITS. (a) On approval by the commissioner of a written request received from an employee, an insurance carrier shall accelerate the payment of impairment income benefits to the employee. The accelerated payment may not exceed a …

Sec. 408.141. AWARD OF SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS. An award of a supplemental income benefit, whether by the commissioner or a court, shall be made in accordance with this subchapter. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., C…

Sec. 408.1415. WORK SEARCH COMPLIANCE STANDARDS. (a) The commissioner by rule shall adopt compliance standards for supplemental income benefit recipients that require each recipient to demonstrate an active effort to obtain employment. To be eligible to receive supplemental incom…

Sec. 408.142. SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS. (a) An employee is entitled to supplemental income benefits if on the expiration of the impairment income benefit period computed under Section 408.121(a)(1) the employee: (1) has an impairment rating of 15 percent or more as determined…

Sec. 408.143. EMPLOYEE STATEMENT. (a) After the commissioner's initial determination of supplemental income benefits, the employee must file a statement with the insurance carrier stating: (1) that the employee has earned less than 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage…

Sec. 408.144. COMPUTATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS. (a) Supplemental income benefits are calculated quarterly and paid monthly. (b) Subject to Section 408.061, the amount of a supplemental income benefit for a week is equal to 80 percent of the amount computed by subtracti…

Sec. 408.145. PAYMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS. An insurance carrier shall pay supplemental income benefits beginning not later than the seventh day after the expiration date of the employee's impairment income benefit period and shall continue to pay the benefits in a tim…

Sec. 408.146. TERMINATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS; REINITIATION. (a) If an employee earns wages that are at least 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage for at least 90 days during a time that the employee receives supplemental income benefits, the employee ceas…

Sec. 408.147. CONTEST OF SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS BY INSURANCE CARRIER; ATTORNEY'S FEES. (a) An insurance carrier may request a benefit review conference to contest an employee's entitlement to supplemental income benefits or the amount of supplemental income benefits. (b) If…

Sec. 408.148. EMPLOYEE DISCHARGE AFTER TERMINATION. The commissioner may reinstate supplemental income benefits to an employee who is discharged within 12 months of the date of losing entitlement to supplemental income benefits under Section 408.146(c) if the commissioner finds t…

Sec. 408.149. STATUS REVIEW; BENEFIT REVIEW CONFERENCE. (a) Not more than once in each period of 12 calendar months, an employee and an insurance carrier each may request the commissioner to review the status of the employee and determine whether the employee's unemployment or un…

Sec. 408.150. VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION. (a) The division shall refer an employee to the Texas Workforce Commission with a recommendation for appropriate services if the division determines that an employee could be materially assisted by vocational rehabilitation or training in …

Sec. 408.151. MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS. (a) On or after the second anniversary of the date the commissioner makes the initial award of supplemental income benefits, an insurance carrier may not require an employee who is receiving supplemental income …

Sec. 408.161. LIFETIME INCOME BENEFITS. (a) Lifetime income benefits are paid until the death of the employee for: (1) total and permanent loss of sight in both eyes; (2) loss of both feet at or above the ankle; (3) loss of both hands at or above the wrist; (4) loss of one foot a…

Sec. 408.1615. LIFETIME INCOME BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN FIRST RESPONDERS. (a) In this section: (1) "First responder" means an individual who is: (A) a peace officer under Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure; (B) certified under Chapter 773, Health and Safety Code, as an emerge…

Sec. 408.162. SUBSEQUENT INJURY FUND BENEFITS. (a) If a subsequent compensable injury, with the effects of a previous injury, results in a condition for which the injured employee is entitled to lifetime income benefits, the insurance carrier is liable for the payment of benefits…

Sec. 408.181. DEATH BENEFITS. (a) An insurance carrier shall pay death benefits to the legal beneficiary if a compensable injury to the employee results in death. (b) Subject to Section 408.061, the amount of a death benefit is equal to 75 percent of the employee's average weekly…

Sec. 408.182. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH BENEFITS. (a) If there is an eligible child or grandchild and an eligible spouse, half of the death benefits shall be paid to the eligible spouse and half shall be paid in equal shares to the eligible children. If an eligible child has predecea…

Sec. 408.183. DURATION OF DEATH BENEFITS. (a) Entitlement to death benefits begins on the day after the date of an employee's death. (b) An eligible spouse is entitled to receive death benefits for life or until remarriage. On remarriage, the eligible spouse is entitled to receiv…

Sec. 408.184. REDISTRIBUTION OF DEATH BENEFITS. (a) If a legal beneficiary dies or otherwise becomes ineligible for death benefits, benefits shall be redistributed to the remaining legal beneficiaries as provided by Sections 408.182 and 408.183. (b) If a spouse ceases to be eligi…

Sec. 408.185. EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DISPUTE; ATTORNEY'S FEES. On settlement of a case in which the insurance carrier admits liability for death benefits but a dispute exists as to the proper beneficiary or beneficiaries, the settlement shall be paid in periodic payments as provid…

Sec. 408.186. BURIAL BENEFITS. (a) If the death of an employee results from a compensable injury, the insurance carrier shall pay to the person who incurred liability for the costs of burial the lesser of: (1) the actual costs incurred for reasonable burial expenses; or (2) $10,0…

Sec. 408.187. AUTOPSY. (a) If in a claim for death benefits based on an occupational disease an autopsy is necessary to determine the cause of death, the commission may, after opportunity for hearing, order the legal beneficiaries of a deceased employee to permit an autopsy. (b) …

Sec. 408.201. BENEFITS EXEMPT FROM LEGAL PROCESS. Benefits are exempt from: (1) garnishment; (2) attachment; (3) judgment; and (4) other actions or claims. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 408.202. ASSIGNABILITY OF BENEFITS. Benefits are not assignable, except a legal beneficiary may, with the commissioner's approval, assign the right to death benefits. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 265 (H.B. 7…

Sec. 408.203. ALLOWABLE LIENS. (a) An income or death benefit is subject only to the following lien or claim, to the extent the benefit is unpaid on the date the insurance carrier receives written notice of the lien or claim, in the following order of priority: (1) an attorney's …

Sec. 408.221. ATTORNEY'S FEES PAID TO CLAIMANT'S COUNSEL. (a) An attorney's fee, including a contingency fee, for representing a claimant before the division or court under this subtitle must be approved by the commissioner or court. (b) Except as otherwise provided, an attorney'…

Sec. 408.222. ATTORNEY'S FEES PAID TO DEFENSE COUNSEL. (a) The amount of an attorney's fee for defending an insurance carrier in a workers' compensation action brought under this subtitle must be approved by the division or court and determined by the division or court to be reas…