(1) There is established a Workers with Disabilities Program for the benefit of complying employers and their workers. The purpose of the program is to encourage the employment or reemployment of workers with disabilities.

Ask a workers compensation law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified workers compensation lawyers.
Claims, medical treatment, disability payments, termination, and more.
Get help with workers' comp forms, benefits, or employers' responsibilities
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) As used in this section, ‘worker with a disability’ means a worker who has or is subject to any permanent physical or mental impairment, whether congenital or due to an injury or disease, including periodic impairment of consciousness or muscular control of such character that the impairment would prevent the worker from obtaining or retaining employment.

(3) Any employer of a worker who claims or has received compensation under this chapter, or whose dependents have claimed or received such compensation, may file an application with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services requesting the director to make the determinations referred to in subsection (4) of this section.

(4) When the director receives a request referred to in subsection (3) of this section, the director shall determine:

(a) Whether the injured worker was a worker with a disability and whether the injury, disease or death sustained by the worker would not have been sustained except for the disability; or

(b) Whether the injured worker was a worker with a disability and whether the injury, disease or death sustained by the worker would have been sustained without regard to the disability but that:

(A) Any resulting disability was substantially greater by reason of the disability; or

(B) The disability contributed substantially to the worker’s death; and

(C) Whether the injury, disease or death of the worker would not have occurred except for the act or omission of a worker with a disability employed by the same employer and that the act or omission of the worker with a disability would not have occurred except for the impairment of the worker with a disability.

(5) If the director determines that any of the conditions described in subsection (4) of this section exist, the director may reimburse the paying agency for compensation amounts in excess of $1,000 per claimant for all subsequent injuries throughout the claimant’s working career, paid as the result of the condition.

(6) The reimbursement paid from the Workers’ Benefit Fund may not be included in any data used for rate making or individual employer rating or dividend calculations by an insurer, a rating organization licensed pursuant to ORS Chapter 737, the State Accident Insurance Fund Corporation or the Department of Consumer and Business Services.

(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of law:

(a) Any reimbursement to employers under the Workers with Disabilities Program shall be in such amounts as the director prescribes and only to the extent of moneys available in the Workers’ Benefit Fund as determined by the director.

(b) Determinations made by the director regarding reimbursement from the Workers’ Benefit Fund for the purposes of this section are not subject to review by any court or administrative body.

(c) After a determination has been made by the director that an employer will receive reimbursement from the Workers’ Benefit Fund, any settlement of the claim by the parties is void unless made with the written approval of the director.

(8) The director by rule shall prescribe the form and manner of requesting determinations under this section, the amount of reimbursement payable and such other matters as may be necessary for the administration of this section. [1981 c.535 § 14; 1995 c.332 § 49b; 1995 c.641 § 23; 2007 c.70 § 286; 2007 c.241 § 17]