Workers’
Compensation Commission
JOHN A. MASTROPIETRO, Chairman
Established - 1913
Statutory
authority – CGS Chapter 568
Central
office - 21 Oak Street,
Hartford, CT
06106
Telephone
Number - 860-493-1500
Average
number of full-time employees - 115
Recurring operating expenditures - $ 12,757,720
Capital
outlay - $4,785
Organizational
structure - Organizational Structure – Chairman,
Chief Administrative Officer, Compensation Review Board, Business, Personnel,
Information Systems, Education, Rehabilitation, and Statistical units are
located in the Chairman’s Office.
Fifteen additional trial Commissioners preside over dispute resolution
hearings at the eight district offices.
Mission
The
Workers’ Compensation Commission administers the workers’ compensation laws of
the State of Connecticut with the ultimate goal of ensuring that workers
injured on the job receive prompt payment of lost work time benefits and
attendant medical expenses. To this end,
the Commission facilitates voluntary agreements, adjudicates disputes, makes
findings and awards, hears and rules on appeals, and closes out cases through
full and final stipulated settlements.
Statutory
Authority
Since the Workers’ Compensation Act
(Chapter 568, C.G.S.) was adopted in 1913, numerous enhancements and
modifications in coverage and benefits have been made by the Legislature. With few exceptions, all workers and
employers are now covered by the workers’ compensation laws. When a worker has suffered a job-related
injury or illness, he or she is entitled to certain well-defined wage
replacement and medical benefits. The mission of the Workers’ Compensation
Commission is to ensure injured employees’ rights are fully protected, and that
workers and employers fully carry out their legal responsibilities. There are fifteen At-Large Commissioners who
serve in eight district offices throughout the state. They are appointed by the Governor with
legislative approval. A sixteenth
Commissioner serves as Chairman of the Commission. The Chairman is responsible for
administration of the entire Commission.
The Chairman also serves as Chief of the Compensation Review Board (CRB)
along with two other Commissioners appointed by him for one-year terms to hear
appeals of cases decided by the Commissioners.
The Commission also educates employees about their legal rights and
helps rehabilitate and return injured workers to gainful employment. During FY 2010, the Commission’s Safety
Program Officers worked hard and effectively to monitor worker safety
committees throughout the state. Prevention, education and rehabilitation are
integral to the Commission’s statutory responsibilities. A Statistical Division measures and monitors
the caseload and performance of the Commission.
In
recent years, two landmark reform bills were enacted.
The
first, (Public Act 91-339) centralized administrative duties and powers in the
person and Office of the Chairman to more effectively implement enforcement of
the law. Twenty-three specific duties
were assigned to the Chairman, including budgetary and personnel matters,
assignment of Commissioners, and regulation of attorneys, physicians, and
preferred provider organizations. The
Chairman and his staff implement these responsibilities, guided by an Advisory
Board composed of business and labor representatives, including an injured
worker.
The second, (Public Act 93-228) effected
historic reforms of the Connecticut workers’ compensation laws effective July
1, 1993. The benefit modifications and
related reforms contained in this Act, combined with the efficiencies
engendered by Public Act 91-339, have resulted in reduced payouts. Cumulative savings over these past years are over
$750 million dollars compared to what costs would have been without the 1993
reforms.
Public
Service
The Commission constantly strives to
upgrade service to its clientele. Two
key goals are: expediting disputed claims settlement, and returning injured
workers to productive jobs. These goals
are closely monitored by the Commission through manual and automated reporting
systems.
Safety Program Officers work cooperatively
and confidentially with employers to devise and implement safety programs
resulting in reduced accidents, injuries, medical costs and lost workdays. During the period of July 1, 2009 to June 30,
2010, Safety Program Officers visited 2,343 employer sites. In total, 25,711 employer sites have been
visited, and more than 5,000 safety and health committees, covering more than 855,120
employees, have been approved. A reduction of 9,963 employees occurred due
to a combination of business closings and non -compliant companies. Medical care plans, including preferred
provider organizations, are also reviewed for compliance with workplace safety
and health laws.
The Commission participates in the
Connecticut Licensing Information Center, providing one-stop licensing
information to state employers via the Internet.
Improvements/Achievements
2009-10
During
the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2010, the Commission moved aggressively to
provide more effective and efficient service delivery.
All duties and responsibilities continue to
be executed effectively and punctually with fewer full-time employees than in
the last several years.
Continual monitoring of hearing backlogs at
the eight district offices, and reassignment of resources to meet heavy
workloads, have resulted in a major decrease in time between initial hearing request and the date the
hearing is actually held. Hearing
backlog is down dramatically for both informal and formal hearings. The Chairman actively monitors cases ensuring
that no cases are unnecessarily delayed.
The Compensation Review Board continues to process
cases expeditiously. This year, new
appeals numbered 95. Meanwhile, there
were 106 dispositions, including 73 written opinions.
During FY 2010, 837 initial interviews for
rehabilitation assistance were completed.
An additional 1,548 individuals received various types of rehabilitation
services. Through guidance, counseling
and cost-effective short-term training programs, 351 injured workers returned
to the workforce, including 124 who received funding for re-training. The program saved a total of $197,117 by utilizing
Pell and SEOG grants as first dollar.
This high success rate was achieved despite
a major reduction of the program’s staff and budget authorization. The staff, which had numbered thirteen
professional counselors, including a director, and a clerical worker, now
numbers just five employees, four professional and one clerical. Worker Rehabilitation vocational education
coordinators have been assigned to specific district offices, allowing greater
familiarity with client needs and resources available in various geographic
areas of the state. Highly cost
effective on-the-job training programs have replaced an earlier emphasis on
formal education programs. The clients
of worker’s rehabilitation services who return to work can now support
themselves and their families, and are paying taxes as a direct result of
workers’ rehabilitation programs.
To help monitor medical costs, (comprising more than
40 percent of total workers’ compensation payments); the Commission reviews and
approves applications for managed care plans.
As of June 30, 2010, 3,662
employers and 590,685 employees, have approved
plans.
A steadily increasing percentage of on-line
reporting of workplace injuries has resulted in more accurate data at lower
cost. During Fiscal Year 2010, the
implementation of an injury reporting system facilitating web-based as well as
value added network submission of first reports continued to attract additional
fully-automated trading partners resulting in greater accuracy and cost
effectiveness in injury reporting. The
Commission, mandates that all such
first reports are transmitted through value added networks or web-based
reporting. Injured workers now routinely
receive information packets detailing their rights and responsibilities within five
days of receipt of the initial report of injury.
The Commission’s website has expanded
vastly, providing vital, up-to-date information on all aspects of the
Commission’s resources and services including the law, CRB decisions and
late-breaking news. Additionally, the
Commission’s major forms are now available in fill-able PDF format.
The Commission offers an enhanced capability to its
online fillable PDF-formatted forms which enables
customers to not only fill them in online, but also to save them along with
their input data (a technical first which saves customers from having to spend
hundreds of dollars per computer to buy special software to perform this task)
and this new capability is now provided free to the public.
Two online services, the Coverage
Verification Service (CVS) and First Report of Injury Submission (FRIS)
Service, were both officially launched in the prior fiscal year. These two innovations are the agency's first
interactive online services provided to the general public through our website,
and provided at no charge.
During
FY 2010 the Commission continued major upgrades, affecting most of the
Commission’s core functions, including claims processing, rehabilitation
services, and health and safety programs. Operating systems and office mail are
currently “state of the art”. Additionally,
planning was completed during the prior fiscal year on the acquisition of
powerful new servers, and the migration of data and applications to a
Department of Information Technology based standard. All aspects of the Commission’s operations are
being addressed with an eye toward increased efficiency and responsiveness to
the needs of injured workers and the general public. All Commission employees have updated desk
top computers to help ensure the fastest possible processing of vital business
transactions.
Committees on the claims process, forms
design, and intra-office communications, established in prior years continue
their productive work. The Commission’s
strategic planning goals are:
- shortening the claims
process in order to get benefits to injured workers as soon as possible;
- elimination
of duplicate claims;
- identification
of non-insured employers;
- quick
retrieval of records, saving personnel costs;
- sophisticated
data analysis to identify trouble spots before they become serious, thus
affording greatly enhanced service to Connecticut
workers; and,
- worker
rehabilitation case tracking for Connecticut workers.
Information
Reported As Required by State Statute
The Commission’s Affirmative Action Plan is
currently in compliance. While the commission
has no full time Affirmative Action Officer, its Affirmative Action Plan and
Program are prepared by its personnel officer.
The commission continues its commitment to the state Affirmative Action
Program.
Key Performance Measures FY 2010
Injuries/Illnesses – 64,961
Fatalities - 40
Informal Hearings – 50,225
Formal Hearings – 1,203
Pre-formal Hearings – 10,211
Voluntary Agreements – 21,532
Stipulations – 6,929
Awards – 1,395
Dismissals – 184
Education Services Information
Responses – 64,157
Website
– 825,228 visits; 2,895,005 page views; and,
226,526 forms, publications and news feeds downloaded.