H. B. 2027
(By Delegate Linch)
[Introduced February 12, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Finance then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article four, chapter twenty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to applications for workers' compensation benefits; and establishing a two-year statute of limitations on applications for specified types of those benefits.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article four, chapter twenty-three of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. DISABILITY AND DEATH BENEFITS.
§23-4-15. Application for benefits.
(a) To entitle any employee or dependent of a deceased employee to compensation under this chapter, other than for
occupational pneumoconiosis or other occupational disease, the application therefor must be made on the form or forms prescribed
by the division and filed with the division within six months two
years from and after the injury or death, as the case may be, and
unless so filed within such six month that two-year period, the
right to compensation under this chapter shall be forever barred,
such that time limitation being hereby declared to be a condition
of the right and hence jurisdictional, and all proofs of
dependency in fatal cases must likewise be filed with the
division within six months two years from and after the death.
In case the employee is mentally or physically incapable of
filing such application, it may be filed by his or her attorney
or by a member of his or her family.
(b) To entitle any employee to compensation for occupational
pneumoconiosis under the provisions hereof, the application
therefor must be made on the form or forms prescribed by the
division and filed with the division within three years from and
after the last day of the last continuous period of sixty days or
more during which the employee was exposed to the hazards of
occupational pneumoconiosis or within three years from and after
the employee's occupational pneumoconiosis was made known to him
or her by a physician or which he or she should reasonably have
known, whichever shall last occur, and unless so filed within
such three-year period, the right to compensation under this
chapter shall be forever barred, such time limitation being hereby declared to be a condition of the right and hence
jurisdictional, or, in the case of death, the application shall
be filed as aforesaid by the dependent of such employee within
one year from and after such employee's death, and such time
limitation is a condition of the right and hence jurisdictional.
(c) To entitle any employee to compensation for occupational
disease other than occupational pneumoconiosis under the
provisions hereof, the application therefor must be made on the
form or forms prescribed by the division and filed with the
division within three years from and after the day on which the
employee was last exposed to the particular occupational hazard
involved or within three years from and after the employee's
occupational disease was made known to him or her by a physician
or which he or she should reasonably have known, whichever shall
last occur, and unless so filed within such three-year period,
the right to compensation under this chapter shall be forever
barred, such time limitation being hereby declared to be a
condition of the right and hence jurisdictional, or, in case of
death, the application shall be filed as aforesaid by the
dependent of such employee within one year two years from and
after such employee's death, and such time limitation is a
condition of the right and hence jurisdictional.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to restore the prior two- year statute of limitations relating to applications for most
types of workers' compensation benefits other than those for
occupational pneumoconiosis or other occupational disease.
Amendments to §23-4-15 enacted during 1995 changed that statute
of limitations to six months and one year, respectively, for
specified types of workers' compensation benefits
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.