Commission Issues New Hearing Officer Memos

1. Memo A5 –– Substantial Aggravation –– which instructs hearing officers to state what standard of aggravation is being applied in their order.  It also instructs hearing officers to cite the evidence documenting substantial aggravation when the claim is allowed for substantial aggravation.
2. Memo C5 –– Temporary Total Disability/Treatment Due to Psychological Conditions –– which indicates that treatment requests for psychological conditions may be made by psychologists, medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy, licensed professional clinical counselors, or licensed independent social workers, but that evidence of disability can only be provided by psychologists, medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy.
3. Memo K1 –– Allowance – Dismissal Order v. Merits –– which indicates that allowance orders should expressly allow or deny a claim and indicate a written description of what is being allowed (but not the ICD-9 code). Memo K1 also indicates an appeal can only be dismissed if the request is made before a discussion of the merits and that a request for allowance of a “symptom” as opposed to a “condition” should be dismissed.
4. Memo O3 –– Staff Hearing Officers Review of Settlements –– which indicates the documents an SHO must review when ensuring that a settlement agreement is fair (basically the settlement agreement and documentation relied on by the BWC). Memo 03 also indicates that an SHO should disapprove of the settlement if there is not sufficient documentation to review the settlement, or if a review indicates that the settlement is “clearly unfair.”
5. Memo P2 –– Civil Penalty –– which discusses when a civil penalty should be assessed for an employer’s failure to correct a safety violation.
6. Memo P4 –– Corrective Orders –– which indicates that all VSSR orders which find a violation must address correction of the  violation.