DWC Plans Major Revisions to Notices and Forms

The Division of Workers’ Compensation announced this week that it intends to “modernize” many of its forms and notices. The planned changes will incorporate use of a new letterhead and an updated mailing address. The agency will also plans to make changes involving form content, font size, and plain language.

The letterhead changes will be implemented in connection with the Division’s anticipated move of its Austin headquarters to the Capitol Complex at 1601 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas in the summer of 2022. The DWC Austin Field Office will move to a different location in the Austin area. That location has not yet been disclosed.

The Division is now accepting public comments on its proposed plan to update the notices and forms. The plan is designed to provide advance notice to system participants about changes to the notices and forms. The final plan will detail updates to notices and forms needed to implement legislative changes. At the present time, the agency is not requesting comments on each form, only on the plan to update them. The Division does state that it intends to implement the new forms with at least a 90-day period before discontinuing use of the prevision form versions.

The plan proposes to update DWC forms and notices in three groups:

• • • Group One: Significant Updates. We will modernize English and Spanish versions of forms in this group for plain language, font size, letterhead, DWC return address information, and other changes. We will update the form revision date in the lower left corner and barcode information. We will post drafts of changes for comment from system participants. On final adoption, we will post updated forms to use immediately, with at least a 90-day period before discontinuing the previous version.
    • Group Two: Limited Updates. We will update English and Spanish versions of forms in this group with DWC’s new letterhead and return address information only. There will be no updates to the form revision date in the lower left corner or to barcode information. We will post updated forms to use immediately with no comment period. Some notice and forms may require updates to implement potential legislative changes. Those changes may require version and bar code changes.
    • Group Three: No Updates. We anticipate no change to English, Spanish, or Vietnamese versions of the forms and notices in this group before the summer of 2022.

Group one includes 48 forms slated for significant updates. There are 52 forms in group two, which anticipate limited updates. Only nine forms fall into group three with no planned updates.

A full listing of the forms in each group can be found at this link.

System stakeholders can Email comments regarding the form revision process to RuleComments@tdi.texas.gov. The Division must receive your written comments by 5 p.m., Central time, on Monday, May 24, 2021. You may also mail or deliver comments to:

Cynthia Guillen
Legal Services
Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation
P.O. Box 12050
Austin, TX 78711

As a reminder, the Division established a new post office box in connection with its upcoming move. System participants may begin using this new post office box immediately. DWC does not anticipate any changes to its phone and fax numbers as a result of the move.