Established in 1929 to administer the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Industrial Commission is a division of the N.C. Department of Commerce. The Commission's operations are centrally located on the sixth floor of the Dobbs Building at 430 North Salisbury Street in downtown Raleigh, but Workers’ Compensation and Tort Hearings are held in all 100 counties of the state. The Industrial Commission also is responsible for administering the Law-Enforcement Officers', Firemen's, Rescue Squad Workers' and Civil Air Patrol Members' Death Benefits Act, and the Childhood Vaccine Related Injury Act.
Delivering services to the Workers’ Compensation community in North Carolina is the primary mission of the Industrial Commission. The Commission recognizes its responsibility to receive and to process, in a timely manner, information for the Workers’ Compensation community of claimants, insurance companies, self-insurers, and attorneys. The Commission also provides them the accurate and timely information that they require as participants in the compensation process. Utilization of the latest technology to deliver these services to the citizens of North Carolina in a timely and cost-effective manner is a primary goal of the Commission.
Pamela Thorpe Young is the Chair of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. She formerly served as a Commissioner (2003-04) and Vice Chair of the Commission (2004-07). For more information about Chair Young, please click the hypertext line above.
The Industrial Commission's 150 employees adjudicate workers’ compensation
claims and tort claims against the state. The Commission currently processes
more than 60,000 workers’ compensation claims annually, orders more than 9,600
mediations,
conducts more than 1,800 hearings, handles 500 appeals, and processes tens of
thousands of motions, orders, and form approvals.
Barbara Levine is the Administrator of the Industrial Commission. She joined the Commission on June 1, 2003.
The Administrator is the agency's chief operating officer, responsible for managing the Commission's $7 million budget and overseeing 140 employees. The Administrator develops and manages the agency's budget, and serves as the agency's personnel officer.
The Commission's 10 sections report directly to the Administrator. They include: Docket, Statistics, Safety Education, Claims, Information Technology, Workers' Compensation Nurses, Office of the Executive Secretary, Medical Fees, File Center, and Fraud Investigations.
The Administrator is the agency's Legislative Liaison, responsible for coordinating the Industrial Commission's legislative agenda and dealing with members of the General Assembly. The Administrator coordinates press, legislative, and government-agency inquiries coming to the Commission. The Administrator is also the "Special Assistant" to the Commission Chairman and is assigned projects and responsibilities by the Chairman.
N.C.
Industrial Commission Administrator Barbara Levine formerly served as
director of communications for NC@Your Service (Office of Information
Technology) and also worked as director of Connect North Carolina, a technology
initiative in the far western 29 counties of the state.
She has also worked for the North Carolina Information Highway and as
associate dean for administration of the Kenan-Flagler Business School and as
director of administration of the University of North Carolina Business School.
A native of Massachusetts, she is a graduate of Connecticut College with a BS degree in chemistry. She received her master’s degree in social work from Simmons College.
To e-mail Ms. Levine, click levineb@ind.commerce.state.nc.us.
The Deputy Commissioners serve as judges in hearings for contested cases. Deputy Commissioners must be attorneys and have a background in workers' compensation cases. Click here to read for brief biographies of the Deputy Commissioners.
Click the hypertext line at right below to e-mail the following Deputy Commissioners:
Statistics helps the Commission by recording claim records and collecting statistical data on Workers' Compensation injuries/illnesses. They update and make corrections in claims records and research insurance coverage and update the system for self insurance coverage. Statistics is responsible for reviewing and auditing claims to ensure that the appropriate entitlement benefits are accurate. They code the essential facts relating to injuries/illnesses for statistical tables. Additionally, they maintain an online index of computer programs to retrieve requested data in-house and for the general public.
The docket section is responsible for placing contested Workers' Compensation claims on the hearing docket in claims in which hearings are requested. Hearings are held in all 100 county seats of the state of North Carolina. This section places the case on the hearing docket in the county in which the injury occurred, unless otherwise requested. The Dockets section acknowledges the 33r's, which are the responses to the requests for hearing. Dockets puts the attorneys on the SIPS system as they inform us they will be representing an interested party in a particular case.
This section also places assigned numbers on all claims against state agencies in which negligence is claimed against any named state employee. Many of these cases involve prisoners who claim their property was stolen, unsafe conditions in prison cells, injuries inside the prison walls, altercations between prisoners, etc.
Dockets is also responsible for maintaining the hearing docket for all cases appealed to the full commission. Last year alone, there were over 700 cases appealed to the Full Commission level. It is Dockets' duty to maintain the hearing docket, type the hearing calendar, and prepare the files for the three commissioners who hear the cases.
Dockets codes each file as to its present status before a Deputy Commissioner. And lastly, this section invoices all hearing costs, administrative costs for approving compromise settlement agreements, transcript costs, and administrative costs for ordering distribution of third party recovery funds.
The Medical Fees Section is responsible for processing bills for medical services provided in all Workers' Compensation claims that occur in this state, unless processed by the Insurance carriers, Self-Insured Administrators and Third-Party Administrators. All bills are viewed, reduced in accordance with the Commission's Medical Fee Schedule, and/or approved for payments by the Insurance Carrier. The Medical Fees Section responds to inquiries regarding the Fee Schedule and is responsible for resolving medical fee disputes.
The Workers' Compensation Nurses provide medical rehabilitation to workers who are covered by Worker's Compensation due to injuries which occurred while they performed jobs held in North Carolina. These services are provided by six Medical Services Consultants who are Registered Nurses and responsible for different geographic segments of the state, ranging from 14 to 22 counties.
The Workers' Compensation Nurses' goal is to assist the worker through the recovery following his/her injury. This task is accomplished through coordination and utilization of professionals, specialized facilities, and community resources in a manner which will help the worker advance from disability to ability in a steady, progressive process.
The accident prevention and safety services offered by the Safety Education section of the N.C. Industrial Commission are established to provide competent, practical instruction in accident prevention and workers' compensation. The courses and workshops are designed to reduce accidents and accident costs in North Carolina.
The Safety Education section offers programs with experienced safety instructors. There is no charge for the courses. Programs are scheduled to meet the needs of client companies. The Safety Education section requests as much lead time as possible be given for course scheduling.
The Claims section reviews and approves/rejects Forms 21 and 26, ("Agreements for Compensation"). This section processes approximately 2,000 Form 21 and Form 26 Agreements every week. The Claims Examiner is responsible for answering public inquiries regarding specific Workers' Compensation claims, as well as general information questions regarding Workers' Compensation law, rules, and claims filing procedure.
The Information Technology section is responsible for setting up and administering the Commission's computer systems, the COMP.net web site (http://www.comp.state.nc.us/), and the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS).
The Executive Secretary acts in a quasi-judicial capacity, with responsibilities of
ruling and issuing orders on various Motions, approving clincher settlement agreements,
following up on non-insured employers, supervising Agency Legal Specialists in ruling on
termination of benefits, and providing supervision, training, and direction for the
Workers' Comp Information Specialists program, which provides public
information on the Workers' Compensation claims process. You can dial the Information Specialist
section toll free at
(800) 688-8349.
The Executive Secretary:
Click here to e-mail Executive Secretary Tracey Weaver weavert@ind.commerce.state.nc.us
The Fraud Investigations Section was established, during the 1995 Session of the General Assembly, to give the Industrial Commission the responsibility to "perform investigations regarding all cases of suspected fraud and all violations related to workers' compensation claims, by or against insurers or self-funded employers, and refer possible criminal violations to the appropriate prosecutorial authorities."
The Fraud Investigations Section now includes two investigators and one secretary.
The File Center is the main source of records for the Industrial Commission, housing the current open Workers' Compensation files. This section also houses:
As files are needed throughout the day, the file room personnel locate and pull those files. They also pull all files which are needed by Commission employees to respond to the very voluminous correspondence received daily.
The file center is also responsible for distributing all incoming mail to the various departments within the Industrial Commission.