Texas Administrative Code
Title 28 - INSURANCE
Part 2 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Chapter 130 - IMPAIRMENT AND SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS
Subchapter B - SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME BENEFITS
Section 130.101 - Definitions

(1) Application for Supplemental Income Benefits--The Division form required pursuant to Labor Code § 408.143(b) containing the following information:

(2) First Quarter--The 13 weeks beginning on the day after the last day of the impairment income benefits period.

(3) Impairment income benefits period--The number of weeks computed under Labor Code § 408.121 for which the injured employee is entitled to receive impairment income benefits, starting with the day after the date the employee reached maximum medical improvement.

(4) Qualifying period--A period of time for which the employee's activities and wages are reviewed to determine eligibility for supplemental income benefits. The qualifying period ends on the 14th day before the beginning date of the quarter and consists of the 13 previous consecutive weeks. In accordance with § 130.100(a) of this title (relating to Applicability), a qualifying period that begins on or after July 1, 2009, is subject to the provisions of this subchapter, and a qualifying period that begins prior to July 1, 2009, remains subject to the rules in effect on the date the qualifying period begins.

(5) Reviewing authority--The person who reviews the Application for Supplemental Income Benefits and other information to make the determination of entitlement or non-entitlement to supplemental income benefits including Division staff for the first quarter determination and the insurance adjuster for subsequent quarter determinations.

(6) Subsequent Quarter--A 13-week period beginning on the day after the last day of a previous quarter. The term subsequent quarter applies to all quarters after the first quarter.

(7) Vocational Rehabilitation Services--Services which can reasonably be expected to benefit the employee in terms of employability including, but not limited to, identification of the employee's physical and vocational abilities, training, physical or mental restoration, vocational assessment, transferable skills assessment, development of and modifications to an individualized vocational rehabilitation plan, or other services necessary to enable an injured employee to become employed in an occupation that is reasonably consistent with his or her strengths, physical abilities including ability to travel, educational abilities, interest, and pre-injury income level.

(8) Vocational rehabilitation program--Any program, provided by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), a comparable federally-funded rehabilitation program in another state under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, or a private provider of vocational rehabilitation services, for the provision of vocational rehabilitation services designed to assist the injured employee to return to work that includes a vocational rehabilitation plan. A vocational rehabilitation plan, also known as an Individual Plan for Employment at TWC, includes, at a minimum, an employment goal, any intermediate goals, a description of the services to be provided or arranged, the start and end dates of the described services, and the injured employee's responsibilities for the successful completion of the plan.

(9) Wages--All forms of remuneration payable for personal services rendered during the qualifying period as defined in Labor Code § 401.011(43), including the wages of a bona fide offer of employment which was not accepted.