PJC General Negligence 2024

PJC 23.13

W ORKERS ’ C OMPENSATION —D ISABILITY , MMI & I MPAIRMENT

PJC 23.13 Bona Fide Position of Employment—Definition A “bona fide position of employment” is a position of employment that an employee is reasonably capable of performing, given the physical condition of the employee and the geographic accessibility of the position to the employee. COMMENT When to use. PJC 23.13 should be used when a party appeals a decision of the Division of Workers’ Compensation of the Texas Department of Insurance (DWC) that concludes that the injured worker was or was not offered a bona fide position of employment. The Code requires that a bona fide offer of employment must be in writ ing, accompanied by a Work Status Report, and contain the location at which the employee will be working; the schedule the employee will be working; the wages that the employee will be paid; a description of the physical and time requirements that the position will entail; and a statement that the employer will only assign tasks consistent with the employee’s physical abilities, knowledge, and skills and will provide training if necessary. 28 Tex. Admin. Code § 129.6. See PJC 23.4 for a question on bona fide position of employment. Source of definition. For purposes of calculating the amount of temporary income benefits owed to an injured worker, the Code provides that “if an employee is offered a bona fide position of employment that the employee is reasonably capable of performing, given the physical condition of the employee and the geographic accessi bility of the position to the employee, the employee’s weekly earnings after the injury are equal to the weekly wage for the position offered to the employee.” Tex. Lab. Code §408.103(e). See also Tex. Lab. Code §408.144(c), which contains a similar provi sion for supplemental income benefits cases.

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