GQ Corner
Q: The employer of the injured employee has been attempting to send a Bona Fide Offer of Employment to the injured employee, but the injured employee states she is out of town and does not know when she will return. Now she won’t answer my calls. Can I suspend benefits even though she has not actually received the BFOE?
A. In this scenario, I would recommend that the employer send the BFOE to the claimant’s address via certified mail with delivery confirmation. A BFOE is deemed rejected 7 days after receipt of the offer. The Labor Code deems a mailed document to be received 5 days after the letter was sent. Therefore, the carrier can take credit for the offered wages against TIBs 12 days after the letter is sent.
Q. Does an insurance carrier have any obligation to notify the Attorney General’s office of a workers’ compensation claim that has been filed by an individual who has a child support lien?
A. There is nothing in the Family Code or the Labor Code that puts this obligation on the workers’ compensation carrier.
However, Section 158.206 of the Family Code was amended in 2015 and effective September 1, 2018, and now provides: “If an obligor has filed a claim for workers’ compensation, the obligor’s employer shall send a copy of the income withholding order or writ to the insurance carrier with whom the claim has been filed in order to continue the ordered withholding of income.”
Thus, next year the employer will have the obligation to notify the carrier of the order; the carrier has no obligation other than to pay as outlined in Section 158.213 of the Family Code:
Sec. 158.213. WITHHOLDING FROM WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS.
(a) An insurance carrier that receives an order or writ of withholding under Section 158.206 for workers’ compensation benefits payable to an obligor shall withhold an amount not to exceed the maximum amount allowed to be withheld from income under Section 158.009 regardless of whether the benefits payable to the obligor for lost income are paid as lump sum amounts or as periodic payments.
(b) An insurance carrier subject to this section shall send the amount withheld for child support to the place of payment designated in the order or writ of withholding.
FOLIO
