Workers' Compensation Boards and Related Agencies
Links to the official Web sites of Federal and state workers' compensation
boards, bureaus, commissions, courts, offices or similarly-named, related
agencies are listed below. As indicated, workers' compensation boards go
by various names. The most common are listed below.
- Workers' Compensation Board
- Workers' Compensation Bureau
- workers' Compensation Commission
- Workers' Compensation Office
Facts about Workers' Compensation Boards
Each workers' compensation board is a government agency that administers worker's
compensation benefits.
Some states have workers' compensation courts, which are dedicated to
enforcing worker's compensation
laws and regulations,
and conducting appeals hearings.
In other states, workers' compensation boards, commissions or administrative
law judges are typically responsible for same.
Workers' compensation boards are typically divisions of labor
departments or other employment-related agencies.
For example, what some might call the California Workers' Compensation
Board is a division of the Department of Industrial Relations, which is
the state labor department. Consequently, the California workers' compensation
board is officially named the California
Division of Workers' Compensation.
Employers! Looking for information
about complying with workers' compensation laws and regulations? See
the information provided by the U.S.
Department of Labor for Federal programs. Click the appropriate state
workers' compensation links below for information about state programs.
Federal Workers' Compensation Board
The Office of Workers'
Compensation Programs (OWCP), a division of the U.S. Department of
Labor's (DOL) Employment Standards Administration (ESA), is the so-called
Federal workers' compensation board. It administers workers' compensation
benefits for energy, longshore, harbor, coal mine and Federal Government
workers, through the four divisions listed below.
Collectively, the divisions enforce and administer the following Federal
workers' compensation Acts and
related programs, regulations and laws.
- Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act
- Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act
- Black Lung Benefits Reform Act
- Federal Employees’ Compensation Act
The OWCP Web site is
the place to research the Acts and find forms for claiming benefits under
the Acts, if your employer does not provide the forms. Alternately, you
may obtain forms through a regional
office, where you would also file an appeal for a denial of benefits.
State Workers' Compensation Boards, Bureaus, Commissions, Courts and
Offices
State workers' compensation boards (bureaus commissions, offices or similarly-named
agencies) administer benefits for private-sector employees,
and those who work for and state and local governments.
The Web site of the state workers' compensation board or similarly-named
agency for the state in which you work is the place to file a claim for workers'
compensation benefits, if it has online facilities for such. Many do.
But, regardless of whether or not they offer online claim filing, all of
the Web sites provide instructions, links or contact information for filing
claims by other means.
The Web sites of state workers' compensation agencies are also good places
to research state-specific workers' compensation benefits, eligibility
requirements, appeals procedures, laws and employer compliance requirements.
Not every state workers' compensation agency has its own Web site. In
fact, a few states don't even have workers' compensation boards or commissions
per se. Consequently, this section links to the closest Web sites for such
states.
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