I have a Hearing at The Ohio Industrial Commission: What to expect…

Many of our workers’ compensation clients first contact us after they get a notice that their BWC claim is set for a hearing at the Industrial Commission. We hear mostly from people who have hearings at the Cincinnati or Fairborn Industrial Commission office locations.

What Happens At an Industrial Commission Hearing?

What happens in the hearings depends on what issue is being addressed. This can vary quite a bit. However, typical hearing issues include;

1. initial injury allowance,
2. treatment requests,
3. additional allowance requests,
4. payment of bills
5. and payment of temporary total disability compensation.

There are two levels of hearing at the Industrial Commission;

1. the District Hearing Officer level
2. and the Staff Hearing Officer level.

Many workers comp hearings are quite brief, only lasting a few minutes. Others can take as long as half an hour or more. Generally speaking, each side’s representative (i.e., for the employer, the employee, and/or the BWC) will have an opportunity to discuss evidence or information about the issue at hand and may ask questions of the other side. The formal rules of evidence do not apply to these administrative hearings so they can be rather informal at times and the parties do not need to worry about rules concerning admissibility, hearsay, etc..

First Rule: Know Exactly what the hearing is about in advance.

It is very important to make sure one knows exactly what his or her hearing is about in advance. Coming into a hearing ill prepared can be detrimental to one’s claim. Consulting with one of the attorneys at McKenzie & Snyder LLP can help you better prepare for your workers comp hearing.

McKenzie & Snyder LLP represents injured persons in Colerain, Dayton, Forest Park, Fairfield, Hamilton, Springboro, Mason, Lebanon, Monroe, Reading, Oxford, Ross, Loveland, West Chester, Mt Healthy, College Hill, Westwood, Clifton and more…