Texas Labor Code Title 5, Chapter 404 - Office Of Injured Employee Counsel

SUBCHAPTER A OFFICE; GENERAL PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 404.001 - Definitions
  In this chapter: (1) "Office" means the office of injured employee counsel. (2) "Public counsel" means the injured employee public counsel. Added by Acts 2005,...
• Texas Section 404.002 - Establishment Of Office; Administrative Attachment To Texas Department Of Workers' Compensation
  (a) The office of injured employee counsel is established to represent the interests of workers' compensation claimants in this state. (b) The office is administratively...
• Texas Section 404.003 - Sunset Provision
  The office of injured employee counsel is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter,...
• Texas Section 404.004 - Public Interest Information
  (a) The office shall prepare information of public interest describing the functions of the office. (b) The office shall make the information available to the...
• Texas Section 404.005 - Access To Programs And Facilities
  (a) The office shall prepare and maintain a written plan that describes how a person who does not speak English can be provided reasonable access...
• Texas Section 404.006 - Rulemaking
  (a) The public counsel shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this chapter. (b) Rulemaking under this section is subject to Chapter 2001, Government Code....
• Texas Section 404.007 - Negotiated Rulemaking; Alternative Dispute Resolution
  (a) The office shall develop and implement a policy to encourage the use of: (1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter 2008, Government Code, for the...

SUBCHAPTER B INJURED EMPLOYEE PUBLIC COUNSEL

• Texas Section 404.008 - Complaints
  (a) The office shall maintain a system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints filed with the office. The office shall maintain information about parties...
• Texas Section 404.051 - Appointment; Term
  (a) The governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint the injured employee public counsel. The public counsel serves a two-year term...
• Texas Section 404.052 - Qualifications
  To be eligible to serve as public counsel, a person must: (1) be a resident of Texas; (2) be licensed to practice law in this...
• Texas Section 404.053 - Business Interest; Service As Public Counsel
  A person is not eligible for appointment as public counsel if the person or the person's spouse: (1) is employed by or participates in the...
• Texas Section 404.054 - Lobbying Activities
  A person may not serve as public counsel if the person is required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305, Government Code, because of...
• Texas Section 404.055 - Grounds For Removal
  (a) It is a ground for removal from office that the public counsel: (1) does not have at the time of appointment or maintain during...
• Texas Section 404.056 - Prohibited Representation Or Employment
  (a) A former public counsel may not make any communication to or appearance before the division, the department, the commissioner, the commissioner of insurance, or...

SUBCHAPTER C GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICE

• Texas Section 404.057 - Trade Associations
  (a) In this section, "trade association" means a nonprofit, cooperative, and voluntarily joined association of business or professional competitors designed to assist its members and...
• Texas Section 404.101 - General Duties
  (a) The office shall, as provided by this subtitle: (1) provide assistance to workers' compensation claimants; (2) advocate on behalf of injured employees as a...
• Texas Section 404.1015 - Refusal To Provide Or Termination Of Services
  (a) The public counsel may refuse to provide or may terminate the services of the office to any claimant who: (1) is abusive or violent...
• Texas Section 404.102 - General Powers And Duties Of Public Counsel
  The public counsel shall administer and enforce this chapter, including preparing and submitting to the legislature a budget for the office and approving expenditures for...
• Texas Section 404.103 - Operation Of Ombudsman Program
  (a) The office shall operate the ombudsman program under Subchapter D. (b) The public counsel shall assign staff attorneys, as the public counsel considers appropriate,...
• Texas Section 404.104 - Authority To Appear Or Intervene
  The public counsel: (1) may appear or intervene, as a party or otherwise, as a matter of right before the commissioner, commissioner of insurance, division,...
• Texas Section 404.105 - Authority To Assist Individual Injured Employees In Administrative Procedures
  (a) The office, through the ombudsman program, may appear before the commissioner, division, or State Office of Administrative Hearings to provide assistance to an individual...
• Texas Section 404.106 - Legislative Report
  (a) The office shall report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and the chairs of the legislative committees with appropriate...
• Texas Section 404.107 - Access To Information By Public Counsel
  The public counsel: (1) is entitled to the same access as a party, other than division staff or department staff, to division or department records...
• Texas Section 404.108 - Legislative Recommendations
  The public counsel may recommend proposed legislation to the legislature that the public counsel determines would positively affect the interests of injured employees as a...
• Texas Section 404.109 - Injured Employee Rights; Notice
  The public counsel shall adopt, in the form and manner prescribed by the public counsel and after consultation with the commissioner of workers' compensation, a...
• Texas Section 404.110 - Applicability To Public Counsel Of Confidentiality Requirements
  (a) Confidentiality requirements applicable to examination reports and to the commissioner of insurance under Sections 401.058, 401.105, 401.106, 441.201, and 501.158, Insurance Code, as applicable,...

SUBCHAPTER D OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM

• Texas Section 404.111 - Access To Information
  (a) When assisting an injured employee, the office is entitled to the same access to information related to the employee's injury and workers' compensation claim...
• Texas Section 404.151 - Ombudsman Program
  (a) The office shall maintain an ombudsman program as provided by this subchapter to assist injured employees and persons claiming death benefits in obtaining benefits...
• Texas Section 404.152 - Designation As Ombudsman; Eligibility And Training Requirements; Continuing Education Requirements
  (a) At least one specially qualified employee in each division office shall be an ombudsman designated by the office of injured employee counsel, who shall...
• Texas Section 404.153 - Employer Notification; Administrative Violation
  (a) Each employer shall notify its employees of the ombudsman program in the manner prescribed by the office. (b) An employer commits an administrative violation...
• Texas Section 404.154 - Public Information
  The office shall widely disseminate information about the ombudsman program. Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Renumbered from Labor...
• Texas Section 404.155 - Cost For Certain Copies Of Medical Records; Administrative Violation
  (a) At the written request of an ombudsman designated under this subchapter who is assisting a specific injured employee, a health care provider shall provide...

Last modified: September 28, 2016