Workers Compensation Coverage (E-55)
Original Implementation: September 1, 1975
Last Revision: January 29, 2013
All employees of the university are covered by the State Employees Worker's Compensation Act. All claims for benefits under this coverage are processed by the safety officer in the Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management Department. All injuries or accidents involving university employees in the course and scope of their assigned duties shall be reported on an "Employee's First Report of Injury or Illness"(SORM-29), with the safety officer, EHS&RM Department, 430 E. Austin Street, extension 4514. The safety officer will file the DWC-1S form and all required reports with the State Office of Risk Management, Workers’ Compensation Division electronically.
Responsibility for the timely reporting of on-the-job injuries rests jointly with the employee and his/her supervisor. All incidents must be reported immediately. If work is missed or immediate medical attention is required, the claim must be processed within 24 hours. No claim is valid if reported more than 30 days after the incident.
Employees unable to work due to a worker’s compensation injury, are required to use their accrued sick leave. If all accrued sick leave is exhausted before the employee is allowed to return to work, the employee has the option of using all or a portion of their accrued vacation leave by completing the SORM 80 form (available in the Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management Department). If the employee has exhausted all sick leave and the elected amount of vacation, the employee’s status will be leave without pay (LWOP). Once an employee’s status is leave without pay (LWOP), the employee must submit a written request to the university president for a leave of absence (LOA). –The leave of absence cannot exceed a 12-month period from the beginning of their Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. FMLA leave runs concurrently with leave taken for a worker’s compensation injury.
Additional information is available from the safety officer in the Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management Department.
Cross Reference: Family Medical Leave (E-58); Leave of Absence (Non-Academic) (E-30N); Tex. Lab. Code § 501
Responsible for Implementation: Vice President for Finance and Administration
Contact for Revision: Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management Department
Forms: Employee's First Report of Injury or Illness (SORM-29); Election Form (SORM-80)
Board Committee Assignment: Academic and Student Affairs