Insured Extends a Post-Injury Offer of Employment to the Claimant – What to Do Next

The proper handling of your claim after your insured extends a return to work offer to the Claimant, in particular with regard to the initiation or suspension of TIBs, is critically important.  DWC will closely scrutinize that handling, and the decisions you make must be with the understanding of the possibility that you will have to defend against a referral for an administrative violation.

First and foremost, if your insured extends a written offer to the claimant to return to work, you must closely review it for strict compliance with the bona fide offer rule, DWC Rule 129.6.  If you are not certain whether the written offer strictly complies with the rule, please feel free to contact our office for assistance in reviewing the offer: gqs@fol.com.

If you determine the offer DOES NOT comply strictly with the rule, then it is not a bona fide offer and must not be referred to as such.  Despite the fact that it does not adhere to the rule, such offer may nonetheless provide a basis for disputing disability via PLN-11. That basis would simply be that because the insured has work available to the claimant at wages equivalent to the preinjury wage, and has made an offer to the claimant within his or her restrictions, Claimant cannot establish disability under Sec. 401.001(16) of the Act. To reiterate, that offer must not be referred to as a “bona fide” offer, since it does not meet the criterion of Rule 129.6.  A BRC should then be requested on the disability issue.

If you determine the offer DOES comply strictly with the rule, Rule 129.6(g) provides that Carrier may deem the wages offered by an employer through a bona fide offer of employment to be Post-Injury Earnings (PIE).  You are NOT disputing disability in this situation, and you DO NOT file a PLN-11.  Rather, you are treating the wages offered in the bona fide offer as PIE.  How you would then proceed therefore depends on whether or not you are currently paying TIBS:

• • • If you ARE NOT currently paying TIBs and have NOT paid TIBS before, send Claimant a PLN-2 and list the amount of TIBs being initiated (this figure could be $0, if the offered wages are equal to or greater than AWW);
    • If you ARE NOT currently paying TIBs and HAVE paid TIBS before, send Claimant a PLN-10 and list the amount of TIBs being paid (this figure could be $0, if the offered wages are equal to or greater than AWW);
    • If you ARE currently paying TIBs, send Claimant a PLN-8 if the offered wages are less than AWW;
    • If you ARE currently paying TIBs, send Claimant a PLN-9 if the offered wages are equal to or greater than AWW.

Our attorneys are always available for assistance in reviewing post-injury job offers for compliance with the bona fide offer rule, and for consulting on initiation and suspension of benefits: gqs@fol.com.