GQ Corner

Q: Claimant is a seasonal camp supervisor who was injured on 06/30/17 when he fractured his left hand. Claimant has not established his 8th day of disability as he returned to work with no loss of earnings working light duty. I found out today that his seasonal job ended on 08/18/17 and he is now off work. Do I owe benefits from the day his seasonal job ended? Or can I dispute disability as he was working with no loss of earnings?

A: This is a disability and an AWW question. First, I agree that you should dispute disability based on his inability to obtain and retain is due to the cessation of his seasonal job as opposed to his compensable injury. Second, assert that under the recalculation of his AWW per rule 128.5(c) he has no lost earnings as you will adjust the AWW to $0.

Q: Where does SIF get its funding from?

A: Carriers pay death benefits to the SIF in cases where the decedent had no eligible beneficiaries or where all beneficiaries become ineligible before the carrier has paid 364 weeks of death benefits on the claim. See Rule 132.10. The fund is also supplemented by the collection of a maintenance tax as outlined in Texas Labor Code Section 403.007.