• Your Rights in the Texas Workers' Compensation:
     
    1. You may have the right to receive benefits.

      You may receive benefits regardless of who was at fault for your injury with certain exceptions, such as:
      • You were intoxicated at the time of the injury;
      • You injured yourself on purpose or while trying to injure someone else;
      • You were injured by another person for personal reasons;
      • You were injured by an act of God;
      • Your injury occurred during horseplay; or
      • Your injury occurred while voluntarily participating in an off-duty recreational, social, or athletic activity.

    1. You have the right to receive medical care to treat your workplace injury or illness. There is no time limit to receive this medical care as long as it is medically necessary and related to the workplace injury.

    Choosing a treating doctor:

      • If you are in a Workers' Compensation Health Care Network (network), you must choose your doctor from the network's treating doctor list.
      • If you are not in a network, you may choose any doctor who is willing to treat your workers’ compensation injury.
      • If you are employed by a political subdivision (e.g. city, county, school district), you must follow its rules for choosing a treating doctor.


    It is important to follow all the rules in the workers’ compensation system. If you do not follow these rules, you may be held responsible for payment of medical bills.

    1. You have the right to hire an attorney at any time to help you with your claim.

    2. You have the right to receive information and assistance from the Office of Injured Employee Counsel at no cost.

      Staff is available to answer your questions and explain your rights and responsibilities by calling the toll-free telephone number 1-866-EZE-OIEC (1-866-393-6432) or visiting any Division of Workers’ Compensation/Office of Injured Employee Counsel local field office.

    3. You have the right to receive ombudsman assistance if you do not have an attorney and a dispute resolution proceeding about your claim has been scheduled.

      An ombudsman is an employee of the Office of Injured Employee Counsel. Ombudsmen are trained in the field of workers’ compensation and provide free assistance to injured employees who are not represented by attorneys. At least one Ombudsman is located in each local field office to assist you at a benefit review conference (BRC), contested case hearing (CCH), and an appeal. However, Ombudsmen cannot sign documents for you, make decisions for you, or give legal advice.

    4. You have the right for your claim information to be kept confidential.

      In most cases, the contents of your claim file cannot be obtained by others. Some parties have a right to know what is in your claim file, such as your employer or your employer’s insurance carrier. Also, an employer that is considering hiring you may get limited information about your claim from the Division of Workers’ Compensation.