Title 51 — Title 51 INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE
14 chapters · 346 sections in this title.
RCW 51.32.010 Who entitled to compensation.
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Each worker injured in the course of his or her employment, or his or her family or dependents in case of death of the worker, shall receive compensation in accordance with this chapter, and, except as in this title otherwise provided, such payment shall be in lieu of any and all…
RCW 51.32.015 Time and place of coverage—Lunch period.
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The benefits of Title 51 RCW shall be provided to each worker receiving an injury, as defined therein, during the course of his or her employment and also during his or her lunch period as established by the employer while on the jobsite. The jobsite shall consist of the premises…
RCW 51.32.020 Who not entitled to compensation.
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If injury or death results to a worker from the deliberate intention of the worker himself or herself to produce such injury or death, or while the worker is engaged in the attempt to commit, or the commission of, a felony, neither the worker nor the widow, widower, child, or dep…
RCW 51.32.025 Payments for children cease at age eighteen—Exceptions.
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Any payments to or on account of any child or children of a deceased or temporarily or totally permanently disabled worker pursuant to any of the provisions of chapter 51.32 RCW shall terminate when any such child reaches the age of eighteen years unless such child is a dependent…
RCW 51.32.030 When compensation payable to employer or member of corporate employer.
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Any sole proprietor, partner, or joint venturer who has requested coverage under this title and who shall thereafter be injured or sustain an occupational disease, shall be entitled to the benefit of this title, as and under the same circumstances and subject to the same obligati…
RCW 51.32.040 Protection of awards—Payment after death—Time limitations for filing—Confinement in institution.
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(1) Except as provided in RCW 43.20B.720, 72.09.111, 74.20A.260, and 51.32.380, no money paid or payable under this title shall , be assigned, charged, or taken in execution, attached, garnished, or pass or be paid to any other person by operation of law, any form of voluntary as…
RCW 51.32.045 Direct deposit or electronic payment of benefits.
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Any worker or other recipient of benefits under this title may elect to have any payments due paid by debit card or other electronic means or transferred to such person's account in a financial institution for either: (1) Credit to the recipient's account in such financial instit…
RCW 51.32.050 Death benefits.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2034-S2.SL) ***(1) Where death results from the injury the expenses of burial not to exceed two hundred percent of the average monthly wage in the state as defined in RCW 51.08.018 shall be paid.(2)(a) Where death results from the injury, a surviving s…
RCW 51.32.053 Transportation network companies—Driver death benefits.
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(1) In addition to the coverage provided in RCW 51.16.250, death benefits shall be payable in accordance with RCW 51.32.050 when a transportation network company driver's death results from an injury occurring while the driver is:(a) Logged onto the transportation network company…
RCW 51.32.055 Determination of permanent disabilities—Closure of claims by self-insurers.
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(1) One purpose of this title is to restore the injured worker as nearly as possible to the condition of self-support as an able-bodied worker. Benefits for permanent disability shall be determined under the director's supervision, except as otherwise authorized in subsection (9)…
RCW 51.32.060 Permanent total disability compensation—Personal attendant.
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(1) When the supervisor of industrial insurance shall determine that permanent total disability results from the injury, the worker shall receive monthly during the period of such disability:(a) If married at the time of injury, sixty-five percent of his or her wages.(b) If marri…
RCW 51.32.067 Permanent total disability—Death benefit options—Election.
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(1) After a worker elects one of the options in (a), (b), or (c) of this subsection, that option shall apply only if the worker dies during a period of permanent total disability from a cause unrelated to the injury, leaving a surviving spouse, child, children, or other dependent…
RCW 51.32.072 Additional payments for prior pensioners—Children—Remarriage—Attendant.
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(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, every surviving spouse and every permanently totally disabled worker or temporarily totally disabled worker, if such worker was unmarried at the time of the worker's injury or was then married but the marriage was later terminated b…
RCW 51.32.073 Additional payments for prior pensioners—Premium liability of worker and employer for additional payments.
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, each employer shall retain from the earnings of each worker that amount as shall be fixed from time to time by the director, the basis for measuring said amount to be determined by the director. The money so retained shall…
RCW 51.32.075 Adjustments in compensation or death benefits.
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The compensation or death benefits payable pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for temporary total disability, permanent total disability, or death arising out of injuries or occupational diseases shall be adjusted as follows:(1) On July 1, 1982, there shall be an adjustme…
RCW 51.32.080 Permanent partial disability—Specified—Unspecified, rules for classification—Injury after permanent partial disability.
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(1)(a) Until July 1, 1993, for the permanent partial disabilities here specifically described, the injured worker shall receive compensation as follows:LOSS BY AMPUTATIONOf leg above the knee joint with shortthigh stump (3" or less below thetuberosity of ischium). . . .$54,000.00…
RCW 51.32.090 Temporary total disability—Partial restoration of earning power—Return to available work—When employer continues wages—Limitations—Finding—Rules.
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(1) When the total disability is only temporary, the schedule of payments contained in *RCW 51.32.060 (1) and (2) shall apply, so long as the total disability continues.(2) Any compensation payable under this section for children not in the custody of the injured worker as of the…
RCW 51.32.095 Vocational rehabilitation services—Benefits—Priorities—Allowable costs—Performance criteria.
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(1) One of the primary purposes of this title is to enable the injured worker to become employable at gainful employment. To this end, the department or self-insurers must utilize the services of individuals and organizations, public or private, whose experience, training, and in…
RCW 51.32.096 Vocational rehabilitation benefits and options—Advisory committee—Procedures—Requirements—Definitions—Costs.
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(1) To continue the partnership of business and labor with regard to best practices in the provision of vocational services and to identify further improvements to Washington's vocational rehabilitation system and benefits, the director must appoint a vocational rehabilitation ad…
RCW 51.32.098 Vocational rehabilitation services—Applicability.
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Nothing in RCW 51.32.095 or in the repeal of chapter 51.41 RCW by section 5, chapter 339, Laws of 1985 shall be construed as prohibiting the completion of vocational rehabilitation plans approved under this title prior to May 16, 1985. Injured workers referred for vocational reha…
RCW 51.32.100 Preexisting disease.
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If it is determined that an injured worker had, at the time of his or her injury, a preexisting disease and that such disease delays or prevents complete recovery from such injury, it shall be ascertained, as nearly as possible, the period over which the injury would have caused …
RCW 51.32.110 Medical examination—Refusal to submit—Traveling expenses—Pay for time lost.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2632.SL) ***(1) As required under RCW 51.36.070, any worker entitled to receive any benefits or claiming such under this title shall, if requested by the department or self-insurer, submit himself or herself for medical examination, at a place reasonab…
RCW 51.32.112 Medical examination—Standards and criteria—Special examinations by chiropractors—Compensation guidelines and reporting criteria.
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(1) The department shall develop standards for the conduct of special medical examinations to determine permanent disabilities, including, but not limited to:(a) The qualifications of persons conducting the examinations;(b) The criteria for conducting the examinations, including …
RCW 51.32.114 Medical examination—Department to monitor quality and objectivity.
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The department shall examine the credentials of persons conducting special medical examinations and shall monitor the quality and objectivity of examinations and reports for the department and self-insured claimants. The department shall adopt rules to ensure that examinations ar…
RCW 51.32.120 Further accident after lump sum payment.
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Should a further accident occur to a worker who has been previously the recipient of a lump sum payment under this title, his or her future compensation shall be adjusted according to the other provisions of this chapter and with regard to the combined effect of his or her injuri…
RCW 51.32.130 Lump sum for death or permanent total disability.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2632.SL) ***In case of death or permanent total disability, the monthly payment provided may be converted, in whole or in part, into a lump sum payment, not in any case to exceed eight thousand five hundred dollars, equal or proportionate, as the case …
RCW 51.32.135 Closing of claim in pension cases—Consent of spouse.
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In pension cases when a worker or beneficiary closes his or her claim by full conversion to a lump sum or in any other manner as provided in RCW 51.32.130 and 51.32.150, such action shall be conclusive and effective to bar any subsequent application or claim relative thereto by t…
RCW 51.32.140 Nonresident alien beneficiary.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2632.SL) ***Except as otherwise provided by treaty or this title, whenever compensation is payable to a beneficiary who is an alien not residing in the United States, the department or self-insurer, as the case may be, shall pay the compensation to whi…
RCW 51.32.150 Lump sum to beneficiary outside state.
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If a beneficiary shall reside or move out of the state, the department may, with the written consent of the beneficiary, convert any monthly payments provided for such cases into a lump sum payment (not in any case to exceed the value of the annuity then remaining, to be fixed an…
RCW 51.32.160 Aggravation, diminution, or termination.
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(1)(a) If aggravation, diminution, or termination of disability takes place, the director may, upon the application of the beneficiary, made within seven years from the date the first closing order becomes final, or at any time upon his or her own motion, readjust the rate of com…
RCW 51.32.180 Occupational diseases—Limitation.
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Every worker who suffers disability from an occupational disease in the course of employment under the mandatory or elective adoption provisions of this title, or his or her family and dependents in case of death of the worker from such disease or infection, shall receive the sam…
RCW 51.32.181 Occupational diseases—Public health emergencies—Infectious or contagious diseases.
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(1) For frontline employees who are covered under this title, there exists a prima facie presumption that any infectious or contagious diseases that are transmitted through respiratory droplets or aerosols, or through contact with contaminated surfaces and are the subject of a pu…
RCW 51.32.185 Occupational diseases—Presumption of occupational disease for firefighters and fire investigators—Limitations—Exception—Rules—Advisory committee on occupational disease presumptions.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2034-S2.SL) ***(1)(a) In the case of firefighters as defined in RCW 41.26.030(17) (a), (b), (c), and (h) who are covered under this title and firefighters, including supervisors, employed on a full-time, fully compensated basis as a firefighter of a pr…
RCW 51.32.187 Exposed workers—Prima facie presumption of certain occupational diseases—Rebuttal—Definitions.
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(1) The definitions in this section apply throughout this section.(a) "Exposed worker(s)" means a worker working at a radiological hazardous waste facility for at least an eight hour shift covered under this title, including conducting an inspection of the facility.(b) "Radiologi…
RCW 51.32.190 Self-insurers—Notice of denial of claim, reasons—Procedure—Powers and duties of director.
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(1) If the self-insurer denies a claim for compensation, written notice of such denial, clearly informing the claimant of the reasons therefor and that the director will rule on the matter shall be mailed or given to the claimant and the director within thirty days after the self…
RCW 51.32.195 Self-insurers—Information to department.
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On any industrial injury claim where the self-insured employer or injured worker has requested a determination by the department, the self-insurer must submit all medical reports and any other specified information not previously submitted to the department. When the department r…
RCW 51.32.200 Self-insurers—Enforcement of compensation order against.
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(1) If a self-insurer fails, refuses, or neglects to comply with a compensation order which has become final and is not subject to review or appeal, the director or any person entitled to compensation under the order may institute proceedings for injunctive or other appropriate r…
RCW 51.32.210 Claims of injured workers, prompt action—Payment—Acceptance—Effect.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6039-S.SL) ***Claims of injured workers of employers who have secured the payment of compensation by insuring with the department shall be promptly acted upon by the department. Where temporary disability compensation is payable, the first payment ther…
RCW 51.32.215 Payment of compensation after appeal—Enforcement of order—Penalty.
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(1)(a) If the worker or beneficiary in a state fund claim prevails in an appeal by any party to the board or the court, the department shall comply with the board or court's order with respect to the payment of compensation within the later of the following time periods:(i) Sixty…
RCW 51.32.220 Reduction in total disability compensation—Limitations—Notice—Waiver—Adjustment for retroactive reduction in federal social security disability benefit—Restrictions.
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(1) For persons receiving compensation for temporary or permanent total disability pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, such compensation shall be reduced by an amount equal to the benefits payable under the federal old-age, survivors, and disability insurance act as now o…
RCW 51.32.225 Reduction in total disability compensation—Offset for social security retirement benefits.
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(1) For persons receiving compensation for temporary or permanent total disability under this title, the compensation shall be reduced by the department to allow an offset for social security retirement benefits payable under the federal social security, old age survivors, and di…
RCW 51.32.230 Recovery of overpayments.
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Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, any overpayments previously recovered under the provisions of RCW 51.32.220 as now or hereafter amended shall be limited to six months' overpayments. Where greater recovery has already been made, the director, in his or her discretion,…
RCW 51.32.240 Erroneous payments—Payments induced by willful misrepresentation—Adjustment for self-insurer's failure to pay benefits—Recoupment of overpayments by self-insurer—Penalty—Appeal—Enforcement of orders.
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(1)(a) Whenever any payment of benefits under this title is made because of clerical error, mistake of identity, innocent misrepresentation by or on behalf of the recipient thereof mistakenly acted upon, or any other circumstance of a similar nature, all not induced by willful mi…
RCW 51.32.242 Self-insured employer overpayment reimbursement fund—Withholding from worker earnings—Use of funds—Exception.
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, each self-insured employer shall retain from the earnings of each of its workers that amount as shall be fixed from time to time by the director, the basis for measuring said amount to be determined by the director. These …
RCW 51.32.250 Payment of job modification costs.
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Modification of the injured worker's previous job or modification of a new job is recognized as a desirable method of returning the injured worker to gainful employment. In order to assist employers in meeting the costs of job modification, and to encourage employers to modify jo…
RCW 51.32.260 Compensation for loss or damage to personal effects.
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Workers otherwise entitled to compensation under this title may also claim compensation for loss of or damage to the worker's personal clothing, footwear or protective equipment resulting from the industrial accident or incurred in the course of emergency medical treatment for in…
RCW 51.32.300 State employee vocational rehabilitation coordinator.
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The director shall appoint a state employee vocational rehabilitation coordinator who shall provide technical assistance and coordination of claims management to state agencies and institutions of higher education under the state return-to-work programs created by RCW 41.06.490 a…
RCW 51.32.350 Chemically related illness—Criteria and procedures for claims—Claims management.
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(1) By July 1, 1994, the department shall establish interim criteria and procedures for management of claims involving chemically related illness to ensure consistency and fairness in the adjudication of these claims. The criteria and procedures shall apply to employees covered b…
RCW 51.32.360 Chemically related illness—Centers for research and clinical assessment.
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The department shall work with the department of health to establish one or more centers for research and clinical assessment of chemically related illness.[ 1994 c 265 s 3.]
RCW 51.32.370 Chemically related illness—Research projects—Implementation plan—Funding—Deductions from employees' pay.
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(1) The department shall conduct research on chemically related illnesses, which shall include contracting with recognized medical research institutions. The department shall develop an implementation plan for research based on sound scientific research criteria, such as double b…