1. (a) A carrier shall promptly initiate the payment of income benefits as required by the Workers' Compensation Act (Act). To expedite payment, the carrier shall presume that the employer's last payment to the employee for personal services based on a full week's work (partial work week shall be prorated for a full week) accurately reflects the employee's wage until:

   1. (1) the employer files the wage statement required by subsection (b) of this section; or
   2. (2) the correct wage is determined by other evidence, if the employer does not file the wage statement.

2. (b) An employer shall file a signed wage statement with the carrier and the injured employee or injured employee's representative within 30 days of the date benefits begin to accrue and with the commission within seven days of receiving a request from the commission. The wage statement shall be on a Form TWCC 3, be signed and dated by the person filing the wage statement for the employer, and contain the following information:

   1. (1) the employee's name, address, and social security number;
   2. (2) the dates of employee's employment with the employer;
   3. (3) the date of injury;
   4. (4) the employee's wage, as defined in §128.1 of this title (relating to Average Weekly Wage: General Provisions), paid to the employee for the previous 13 weeks before the date of injury. If the employee was not employed for 13 continuous weeks before the date of injury, the employer shall identify a similar employee performing similar services, as those terms are defined in §128.3 of this title (relating to Average Weekly Wage Calculation for Full-Time Employees, and for Temporary Income Benefits for All Employees), and list the wages of that similar employee for the 13 weeks prior to the date of the injury;
   5. (5) the employer's name, address, and federal tax identification number;
   6. (6) a certification that the wage listed includes the fair market value of nonpecuniary remuneration not provided after the date of injury, and that the statement is complete, accurate, and complies with this rule; and
   7. (7) an identification of the employee's status as full-time, part-time, or seasonal worker, including the number of hours worked during the previous 13 weeks, and whether the employee was also a student, apprentice, or trainee.
3. (c) An employer shall file a subsequent wage statement within seven days if any information contained on the previous wage statement changes.
4. (d) A carrier that fails to promptly begin payment of compensation may be assessed an administrative penalty under the Act, §5.22.
5. (e) An employer that fails to file a complete wage statement as required by this rule without good cause may be assessed an administrative penalty, not to exceed $500, under the Act, §4.10(f).

Source Note:The provisions of this §128.2 adopted to be effective January 11, 1991, 15 TexReg 118; amended to be effective September 1, 1993, 18 TexReg 5213.