DWC Reports it is Making Progress in Updating Forms and Notices

In May 2021, the Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that it intended to “modernize” many of its forms and notices. The planned changes are designed to incorporate use of a new letterhead and an updated mailing address. The agency also plans to make changes involving form content, font size, and plain language. The project is planned for completion in the summer of 2022.

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.

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

The Division recently updated system stakeholders on the agency’s plans during the July 2021 quarterly carrier stakeholder’s meeting. 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. The Division is likely to roll out the changes in group two together rather than over time as the forms become available. Carriers and other system stakeholders will have 90 days to implement use of the new forms before they become mandatory.

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.