Workers' Compensation Policy

Supervisor:
The employee must report any injury/illness, no matter how minor, to the supervisor as soon as
possible.  The supervisor should send the employee to Trinity University Health Services for the
injury/illness immediately or as soon as possible (extension 8111). Any delay may jeopardize the
employee's right to workers' compensation.

Trinity University Health Services:
In order for a claim to be filed with the Workers' Compensation carrier, a report must be filed
with Trinity University Health Services.  Health Services will prepare a claim reporting form and forward to Risk Management and Insurance for use with filing a claim with the Workers’ Compensation insurance carrier.

Supervisor’s Report of Injury:
Within 24 hours or the first working day after the injury/illness, the employee's supervisor must
complete a Supervisor's Report of Injury form.  This form is available for completion electronically and can be accessed through the Office of Risk Management web page. Please be
sure that no medical records are attached to the Supervisor's Report of Injury form.

Sharps Injury Log:
If the injury involves a bloodborne pathogen exposure, for example, a needlestick injury or cut
that has been contaminated by another person's blood or other potentially infectious material,
this information must be reported by completing the Environmental Health and Safety’s Sharps Injury Log.

Trinity University Health Services:
Normally the first treatment is provided by Trinity University Health Services. Report to Health
Services immediately for first aid. Health Services staff will refer the employee for treatment off-
campus when necessary.

Off-Campus Treatment:
The University’s Workers’ Compensation insurance requires that off-campus treatment is
provided by providers in the Travelers Health Care Network (HCN). Trinity’s preferred Travelers
HCN urgent care provider is Concentra Medical Center.

Through the Travelers HCN, injured employees have access to a certified, broad network of
quality medical providers with expertise in treating work-related injuries. Injured employees will
benefit from effective management of the Workers' Compensation claim throughout the entire
process, including medical case management provided by Travelers professional claim and
medical staff, located here in Texas.

It is the employee's responsibility to verify that the medical provider is in the Travelers HCN. The
employee may access  this list  or by calling Risk Management at extension 8919 for assistance. If you need assistance with changing your treating doctor, contact the Travelers Workers’ Compensation insurance adjuster assigned to your workers’ compensation claim.

If you require a specialist, your Travelers HCN Treating Doctor will make a referral.
If you obtain medical treatment from a doctor other than a Travelers Workers’ Compensation
HCN doctor without prior approval of Travelers, you may be held financially responsible for the
cost of those services.

After Hours and Emergency Treatment:
If Health Services is closed, or immediate emergency medical attention is required, seek
immediate medical attention off-campus and report the injury to Health Services at x8111 and
Risk Management at x8919 as soon as possible. All medical documents should be provided to
the Risk Management Office. 

If you need emergency care, you may seek treatment from the nearest urgent care facility or
hospital emergency room. Once your situation has been stabilized, you must follow up with a
Travelers Workers' Compensation HCN provider.

**Contact TUPD at x7000 for assistance in emergencies.**

Payment:
When seeking off-campus medical treatment, the employee should not pay or use his/her
personal medical insurance. Instead, provide the medical provider with the contact information
for the University’s Workers' Compensation insurance carrier:

Travelers
P.O. Box 42927
Houston, TX 77242
 1-800-235-3610 

A Wallet Card containing this information is included as an Attachment in this policy.
The medical provider may also contact the Office of Risk Management for the name, address and telephone number of our workers' compensation insurance carrier. 

Please present the Employer’s Authorization for Examination and Treatment form provided by
Health Services to the medical provider. If the employee is referred for off-campus medical
treatment and does not agree to go, but decides to later, it should be reported immediately to
Health Services at x8111 and to Risk Management at x8919.

Employees That Do Not Seek Treatment:

The decision to seek medical treatment is up to the employee. If employees do not seek medical
treatment, they are assumed to be at full-duty status. Employees should be aware that failure to
report an injury/illness within 30 days from the date of injury may result in the claim being
denied which will impact treatment under Workers’ Compensation if you decide to seek medical
treatment later.

RETURN TO WORK
It is important to remember that through every phase of a Workers' Compensation case, the employee and his/her supervisor should stay in contact with Risk Management. Risk Management should be provided with the employee's DWC Form-73 Work Status Reports after every appointment, as well as any other information that the employee or supervisor has regarding the employee's injury and ability to return to work.

If you are released to return to work by your treating doctor, you are expected to communicate this to your supervisor and Risk Management prior to returning to work.  Your treating doctor must provide a DWCForm-73  Work Status Report with details of your release to return to work.

Modified Duty:
If the DWC Form-73 Work Status Report indicates that you are able to work with certain restrictions, the University will make every effort to accommodate the restrictions.  However, some job descriptions are  not able to accommodate modified duty restrictions and there is no guarantee that the University can accommodate all modified duty restrictions.

If the University is able to accommodate the modified duty restrictions, the employee will be required to sign and abide by a Bonafide Offer of Employment and provide to Risk Management prior to returning to work.

If the University is unable to accommodate the modified duty restrictions the employee will be subject to Lost Time as described below.

Lost Time:
If the treating doctor determines that the employee cannot work, as documented on the DWC Form-73, and the employee misses work for 24 hours or longer as a result of the injury/illness, it should be documented and reported to Risk Management immediately.

The first seven days of lost time should be charged against the employee's sick leave balance.
If not enough sick leave exists, vacation leave can be charged.

If not enough vacation leave exists, the injured employee will be placed on leave without pay by Human Resources.

The employee will automatically be placed on Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by Human Resources.

After seven days of lost time for a compensable claim, the Workers' Compensation insurance carrier will begin mailing checks to the employee's home to cover approximately 70% of his/her
regular salary. If the employee has a leave balance (Sick Leave or Vacation Leave), payroll will draw just enough from it each day to make up the other approximate 30% of the employee's regular salary. It is the responsibility of the employee or the employee’s supervisor to submit the appropriate time in Workday.

If an employee is unable to return to work after all sick and vacation leave is exhausted, he/she will be placed in a Leave Without Pay status by Human Resources and the employee will be responsible for paying the University to continue any medical, dental, life, vision, disability insurance, etc. that has been in effect.

Employees may be assigned training for injury prevention purposes by Risk Management or
Environmental Health and Safety. Training assignments should be completed within 2 weeks of
assignment.