Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor
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Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor |
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Because of their small size, the Carlyle and Taylorville hearing sites have been eliminated and cases were reassigned to nearby hearing sites. We are sending notices for these cases and for all split call dockets through December. New notices will not be sent when an arbitrator is taking over a complete docket. revised 12/3/08; posted 10/2/08 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Started shifting responsibility for RAF from the Fiscal Department to a separate RAF Department; |
| • | Hired an attorney who is dedicated to RAF; |
| • | Established tighter, clearer procedures; |
| • | Created a database to better track cases, and continues to improve the technology; |
| • | Searched LexisNexis databases to find beneficiaries’ addresses and verify eligibility status; |
| • | Redesigned forms to better identify potential RAF cases and to verify beneficiaries’ ongoing eligibility; |
| • | Educated arbitrators and commissioners on how to write PTD and fatal awards; and |
| • | Added a RAF web page to its website. |
The IWCC and the Office of Internal Audit have entered into a multi-year interagency agreement to work on improving internal controls further. It now appears that in FY09, the IWCC has paid beneficiaries appropriately, and is searching for people who were missed in the past.
Individuals who received a final PTD or fatal award more than two years ago but have not received a RAF benefit should fill out and submit the application form found on the RAF web page.
There are a number of factors that will be considered in determining eligibility for RAF payments. These factors include, but are not limited to, settlement, death, remarriage, maturation of children, reemployment, waiver, statute of limitations, and other legally relevant factors.
revised 12/3/08; posted 11/26/08
Acting Chairman Masters reminds parties that all existing arbitration trial policies remain in effect:
| 1. | Parties present and ready for trial shall be given priority over parties either not ready or those requesting pre-trials. |
| 2. | Parties will not be required by arbitrators to submit to pre-trials. |
| 3. | Parties who request a pre-trial will be given an opportunity for a pre-trial after trials have concluded. |
| 4. | All additional rules or requirements of arbitrators, as a condition to obtaining a trial, that are inconsistent with the mandate of Section 16 that procedures be simple and summary, shall be immediately discontinued. |
| 5. | All arbitrators will grant trials pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act on any case where the petitioner is claiming past or current benefits remain unpaid, regardless of the petitioner's current work status. This includes past or future medical, TTD, and maintenance. For example, if a petitioner has returned to work but TTD or medical remains unpaid, he or she has a right to a trial pursuant to Section 19(b). |
| 6. | All arbitrators at all downstate venues will begin conducting trials on each and every trial date listed on their schedule if requested to do so by the parties. Furthermore, the parties will not be required to wait through each day of the call until they are reached and may return for trial on the date they have chosen. |
| 7. | In December 2004, the Commission changed the continuance cycle from three months to two months, pursuant to Section 7020.60(a) of the Commission rules. Click here to read the memo explaining the switch from three-month to two-month continuance cycles. |
revised 11/24/08; posted 2005
Governor Blagojevich has named Amy J. Masters as Acting Chairman of the IWCC, effective 11/21/08. Chairman Masters first joined the Commission in 2003. She has served as the Secretary of the Commission and Operations Manager for the past two years, and previously served as Chief of Staff and Judicial Manager. Before joining the Commission, she managed public relations for the Chicago Bar Association and the Laborers' International Union-Midwest Region. She holds a B.S. degree in Political Science from Southern Illinois University.
The Workers' Compensation Advisory Board recommended the governor appoint Masters as Acting Chairman. Under the 2005 workers’ compensation legislative changes, the bipartisan board now makes recommendations on Commission appointments to the governor. The board is made up of six representatives from the business community and six representatives from the labor community.
Additionally, Bertha E. Parker will serve as Acting Secretary during the time Masters serves as Acting Chairman. Secretary Parker has worked at the Commission since 1978. She most recently managed the Arbitration Support Staff and will continue to oversee that area.
posted 11/21/08
We have posted the 1st half of the 2009 Commission calendar online.
On 1/1/09, Commissioners Dauphin and Rink will switch panels. Commissioner Rink will be assigned to Panel B and Commissioner Dauphin to Panel A. Their downstate assignments will remain the same.
revised 10/31/08; posted 10/2/08
Please submit proposed arbitration decisions in Microsoft Word. Arbitrators may not be able to read documents created in WordPerfect or other software. We have removed the pdf versions of the arbitration decisions from the website because arbitrators are unable to edit pdf documents.
posted 10/2/08
If you want to change information that appeared on the application form, you should file an amended application. Amended applications should be filed as follows:
| • | Submit 3 copies of the amended application, along with 1 copy of the original application. |
| • | Write or type “AMENDED APPLICATION” at the top of each amended application, and note the original case number. |
| • | Highlight all changes on each amended application. Do not make any changes or highlights on the original application. |
| • | Provide proof of service that the amended application has been served to the opposing party. |
If you change the accident location for a case and need to change the venue, you must file a motion to change venue with the IC4 form, Notice of Motion and Order. The amended application, in itself, will not prompt a change of venue. Please do not submit an amended application for a change of attorney. File the appropriate form.
posted 9/24/08
Please remember that all persons entering our Chicago office in the Thompson Center must present a valid photo identification card.
The following IDs are acceptable:
A valid
driver’s license from any U.S. state;
A valid ID card from any U.S. state;
A valid U.S. passport;
Any valid military identification;
Any valid picture ID issued by a government entity within the U.S.;
A valid passport issued by another country;
A valid ID issued by a foreign consulate.
The following IDs are NOT acceptable:
An Illinois
Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card;
Any identification not issued by a government entity;
Any identification without a picture of the subject;
Non-government work identification cards;
Any ID that is expired.
Attorneys, please notify your clients that they must bring valid identification
cards.
posted 9/17/08
The Commission has created a form with which attorneys may notify the IWCC of a change of address. If you do change your address, please submit one IC26 form for each case and be sure to include your attorney code number.
posted 9/15/08
In FY08, the Insurance Compliance Division collected a record number of fines: 66 employers with nearly 900 workers were found to be operating without insurance and paid $1.8 million in fines. Since January 1, 2006, the Commission has collected over $3 million in fines. All of that money will be used to pay benefits to victims of uninsured employers. To understand the eligibility requirements, go to our Injured Workers' Benefit Fund web page.
To help the Commission in quickly identifying eligible beneficiaries of the fund, we have developed a IWBF Request For Benefits and Affidavit form, which all individuals claiming eligibility for payments at the end of this fiscal year should immediately fill out and send to:
ATTN:
Injured Workers' Benefit Fund Claim
Division of Insurance Compliance
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
100 W. Randolph St. #8-200
Chicago, IL
60601
revised 7/17/08; posted 6/20/08
The Commission has changed our decision forms to help us to quickly identify cases likely to be eligible for Injured Workers' Benefit Fund payments as well as cases where either Second Injury Fund or Rate Adjustment Fund benefits are due. The new decision forms, posted on our forms web page, have a box for arbitrators to mark whether benefits are owed from any of the three Commission-paid funds.
We have also changed the interest rate paragraph to reflect the fact that the interest rate is written on the cover page (the "Notice of Decision of Arbitrator") and does not need to be written again on the decision itself.
Finally, on the fatality decision forms, we added drop-down boxes to allow parties to select the appropriate benefit levels reflected in the 2005 amendments to fatality benefits.
The new forms are mandatory for all cases tried after July 1. The new forms are available in the fill-in-the-blank versions of Word. If you create your own forms, please make these adjustments.
Note: The Word forms may be modified to suit your printer specifications and the particulars of your case. Go to Tools/Unprotect Document; type in the password (iwcc (lower case)) and you can change the entire document. If you are having problems, check the settings on File/Page Setup. If the box is checked for a custom paper size, unclick it. You want a letter-size document with .5" margins.
posted 6/20/08
We are continually trying to improve our website. Here's a list of recent improvements.
| 1. | The Commission has created a group email news service. Over 1,200 people have signed up. If you would like to receive IWCC news at the same time that the news items are posted to the website, send your email address to the web manager. Type "IWCC email news" in the subject line. When we receive a request to be added to the list, we send back a confirmation. Some of these replies have come back as undeliverable. Some of the group emails have also been rejected. If you asked to be placed on the list and did not receive a confirmation or a subsequent group email, you may want to check your settings for your email. You may be rejecting our emails as spam. The emails will be sent from susan.piha@illinois.gov. |
| 2. | Users may now search online for an employer's w.c. insurance carrier, thanks to information provided by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. There are links in the right- and left-hand columns on our home page, or you may click here. |
| 3. | The case information web page allows users to check the status of cases. Contact information for the attorneys is included, as are the status call dates, hearing location, and accident date. To protect employee and employer privacy, we do not include any personal information and we allow searches only by case number. In June 2008, we added the terms of the settlements and decisions issued for each case. In September, we added information about the part of body injured. In December, we added information about consolidated cases. This page is receiving 75,000 hits each month. We strongly encourage you to use this page: the online information is more readily available to you, and our Information staff will then be free to give time to callers with substantive questions. Because we update our database at night, the case screen is available Monday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We have added the link on the upper right-hand side of our home page, or you can click here. |
| 4. | Chicago trial dates are now posted roughly one hour after a Chicago status call ends. The online list is the official list of Chicago trial dates that were assigned at the status call. The arbitrator no longer manually stamps documents at the call. If you wish to reschedule a trial, please contact the arbitrator to whom the case is assigned. Since this change took effect in February 2005, Commission staff have been instructed to refer callers with questions about trial dates to the website. |
| 5. | You may now fill out and print the pdf forms using the Adobe Reader. |
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for the website. It exists to serve you, so tell us how it can be better.
revised 12/19/08; posted 2005
Mail call!
Each year, the Commission receives hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail. We have only two Mailroom employees to open, date-stamp, sort, and deliver them. Please help us with this task by taking the following steps:
When filing a new claim, you must send three copies of the IC1 claim form. If you enclose a fourth copy and a self-addressed, stamped envelope, we will automatically send you a date-stamped copy. (You don't need to send a letter.) Please put the SASE in front of the documents.
Please submit only one copy of the Attorney Representation Agreement for each case. If you provide the Proof of Service on a separate page, you need provide only one copy, as well.
If you are sending a lot of papers, please send them flat, not folded, in one large manila envelope. Clip documents for each case separately. Make sure all the documents face the same way. And don't fold each page separately! These steps will save a lot of time in opening and unfolding the mail.
If you intend to send a document to a specific person, write his or her name on the envelope. Or write the section--Information, Docket, etc.
Mail accident reports to 701 S. 2nd St., Springfield, IL 62701. Please don't ask us to return date-stamped copies of accident reports. If you submit a lot of reports, please send them through a paperless method. (About half of accident reports now come in electronically.) That will save us a great deal of data entry work as well as mail processing time. For details, please contact Bennie Horton, Jr. (312/814-6518).
Remember, the quicker our Mailroom staff can process the incoming mail, the quicker they can take care of the outgoing mail, which may contain something you need. Your cooperation will help us serve you better.
Think "Safety First" at work and at home
Which would you guess is higher: the rate of accidental injury at home or at work?
Believe it or not, home is much more dangerous. According to the National Safety Council, 9 out of 10 deaths and two-thirds of disabling injuries suffered by workers occurred while off the job.
Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2005-6 edition, pp. 52-54.
The overall rate of injury in Illinois in 2005 was 58% lower than in 1991. Experts believe that some of the decline is due to improved safety efforts. These programs are great investments, because everyone wins when accidents are prevented.
Frequency of Injury by Type per 100,000 Workers in Illinois |
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| POLICY YEAR |
MEDICAL ONLY |
TTD |
PPD |
PTD |
FATAL |
TOTAL INJURIES |
| 1991 |
6,335 |
1,493 |
1,038 |
4 |
4 |
8,874 |
| 1995 |
4,877 |
1,226 |
675 |
4 |
4 |
6,786 |
2000 |
3,869 |
842 |
689 |
7 |
5 |
5,412 |
2001 |
3,434 |
750 |
654 |
8 |
4 |
4,850 |
2002 |
3,173 |
699 |
636 |
6 |
2 |
4,517 |
2003 |
2,878 |
658 |
607 |
5 |
3 |
4,152 |
2004 |
2,779 |
652 |
594 |
5 |
4 |
4,034 |
2005 |
2,585 |
600 |
541 |
13 |
2 |
3,741 |
Fatal injuries. Transportation incidents continue to be the most common fatal events; men and self-employed workers are disproportionately likely to be killed.
Fatal Occupational Injuries in U.S. and Illinois |
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| YEAR
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U.S.
|
ILLINOIS |
| 1992 |
6,217 |
260 |
| 1995 |
6,275 |
249 |
| 2000 |
5,920
|
206 |
| 2001 |
5,915 |
231 |
2002 |
5,534 |
190 |
2003 |
5,575 |
200 |
| 2004 |
5,764 |
208 |
| 2005 |
5,734 |
194 |
2006 |
5,840 |
207 |
Nonfatal injuries. Men represented two-thirds of the nonfatal cases. The most common event was overexertion, the most common type of injury was a sprain or strain, and the trunk was the part of the body most injured.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health, "Workplace Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses: Illinois, 2005," April 2008. For more information on the BLS/IDPH studies, go to the IDPH website.
revised 4/30/08
As we all know, the Commission is a high-volume operation. Each arbitrator handles roughly 3,000 cases at any time, which makes it essential to make the best possible use of his or her time.
We also know that opposing parties on a case often do not meet until the day of trial. Valuable trial time is then spent on perfunctory matters, easily-resolved discrepancies, and hallway negotiations.
In response, several years ago the Commission started encouraging groups to hold a "Settlement Day" at the Commission. The idea is to bring the two sides together informally to discuss the case and narrow the issues in dispute.
In a typical Settlement Day, an employer, insurance company, or law firm will invite opposing counsel on 25-100 cases to come to the Commission to see if the issues in dispute can be resolved.
No hearing officers or Commission staff are present at Settlement Day conferences. If the parties reach agreement, an arbitrator is available to review the settlement contracts that day.
Thousands of cases have been resolved through this process, and the Commission encourages groups to try it for themselves.
If you find files that are ready to go and you invite the opposing counsel to a Settlement Day, "your success rate should be over 50%," says Keith Brown, senior claims manager at Wausau Insurance, which has set up over a dozen Settlement Days.
"You can close more cases in a Settlement Day than you would ordinarily close in a day or even a week," he continues. "Everyone's in a frame of mind to settle the claims out. It brings down both parties' caseloads and gets the files out of the system."
For more information, or to schedule a Settlement Day, please contact Rebecca Marble (312/814-6560).
revised 7/22/08
If you are involved in a case in which a court issues an order requiring the Commission to act, please send a copy of the order to Bessie Mims (312/814-6572), and ask the court to return the transcript to us. The courts do not always send us copies of their orders, and cases may fall into limbo if we are not informed. Thanks for your help in keeping the process running smoothly.
Two Appellate Court decisions instruct parties to keep close track of their workers' compensation cases and to follow due diligence in keeping the cases moving.
See Kavonius v. Industrial Commission, 713 NE2d 158, 238 Ill. Dec. 912 (2nd Dist., 1999) and Contreras v. Industrial Commission, 715 NE2d 701, 240 Ill. Dec. 14 (1st Dist., 1999).
In Kavonius, the respondent's appeal of a Commission decision was dismissed because the respondent did not pay for the probable cost of the record and appeal bond in a timely manner, even though a circuit court clerk allegedly returned the documents unfiled.
In Contreras, the respondent's appeal of an arbitrator's decision was dismissed because the court held the respondent did not exercise due diligence in obtaining an authenticated transcript in a timely manner, even though the Commission was late in producing the transcript.
The Appellate Court certified that both cases involve substantial legal questions, which opens the way for the Illinois Supreme Court to consider the cases.
The Commission has taken steps to monitor the production of transcripts more closely. These decisions indicate, however, that parties need to be vigilant about deadlines.
A list of Commission deadlines is available online. The list also appears in the back of the bound copy of the act, which is available at all Commission offices.
The federal Job Accommodation Network (800/526-7234) offers free information regarding workplace accommodations for disabled workers. This service may be particularly helpful to employers that are trying to bring injured workers back to light-duty work.
Given the functional requirements of a job and the individual's limitations, a consultant will provide advice on the appropriate workplace accommodations. Fortunately, most employees can be accommodated at a modest cost. Often, it is cheaper to pay for the accommodations than to continue to pay Temporary Total Disability benefits.
