DWC Proposes to Revise Form on Requesting Information on Prior Injuries

The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation is accepting public comment on a proposed revised form: DWC-156, Prospective Employment Authorization and Certification.

The DWC-156 is used by prospective employers to obtain confidential claim file information on persons who have submitted an application for employment. The Division will provide the dates of injury and descriptions of two or more general injury claims filed by the job applicant within the past five years. The current version of the form can be found here.

The form allows authorized prospective employers to ask DWC to check if a job applicant has previous workers’ compensation claims. The revised version of the form that is being proposed increases the use of technology by allowing requesters to submit the form electronically. Requesters will no longer be required to notarize the form, but requesters must continue to certify that they are eligible to receive the information. The $2 fee for prospective employer checks will be discontinued.

The proposed form is available on the Division website at: www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/rules/drafts.html.

Comment Procedure and Deadlines

Interested parties may submit written comments on the proposed form to: RuleComments@tdi.texas.gov, or may mail or deliver comments to:

Cynthia Guillen
DWC Legal Services, MS-4D
Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation
7551 Metro Center Drive, Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78744-1645

The deadline to submit comments on the proposed form is 5 p.m., Central time, on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.