Special Workers' Compensation Alert - Pennsylvania

Today, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers' Compensation issued the following bulletin:

The United States Postal Service is currently experiencing significant delays in delivery of first-class mail. As a result, many claimants are experiencing a delay in receipt of indemnity checks and resulting penalty petitions are being filed with the Workers' Compensation Office of Adjudication.

In an effort to ensure that claimants receive their benefits in a timely manner and to avoid unnecessary litigation for all parties, the Department encourages the parties to consider using an Authorization for Alternative Delivery of Compensation Payments, LIBC-10, to arrange for payment via direct deposit or other available means.

The LIBC-10 can be accessed here.

Marshall Dennehey encourages our clients who offer direct deposit of compensation checks and to reach out to claimants or their attorneys immediately to advise them that direct deposit is an option that would avoid unnecessary delays due to the US Postal Service issues. The communication with claimants or their attorneys should be made in writing. That way, should a claimant file a penalty petition for delayed delivery of compensation checks, we would be able to argue that you had made an effort to enable direct deposit for the claimant, but the claimant refused and decided to accept the risk of mail delivery delays being caused by the US Postal Service. Should you have any questions regarding how to communicate the direct deposit option with claimants or their attorneys in a way to help avoid an assessment of penalties, please reach out to any of our attorneys.

_{What's Hot in Workers' Comp is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2021 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.}