Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Instead, the Division of Workers Compensation was required to assist permanently disabled workers in obtaining training, education and employment and was authorized to expend monies for such purposes from the Workmen's Compensation Administration Trust Fund established by Section 440.50....

...[1] The Legislature has there provided that in certain cases (when a "disability probably will be permanent") the division of labor shall assist employees in obtaining appropriate training, education and employment. It also provides that the division is authorized to expend monies from a trust fund which is established in Section 440.50, Florida Statutes (1975), for the purpose of providing assistance to employees in need of rehabilitation....

...nder this provision until the division has been given reasonable time to evaluate the injured worker and advise all parties as to the rehabilitation program it may propose if said rehabilitation program is to be funded out of the fund established by § 440.50. The division shall be a party to all hearings involving any claims made against the fund established by § 440.50." As we read the language added to Section 440.49(1) by the 1975 Legislature, it accomplishes several things....

...e jurisdiction of judges of industrial claims to read as if the last portion said: "... and advise all parties as to the rehabilitation program [ if any ] it may propose [if said rehabilitation program is to] be funded out of the fund established by § 440.50." Under this construction the division need not propose any rehabilitation program, but it must advise all parties as to any program it would propose which requires the expenditure of fund resources....

...Clearly the assessments were imposed for the protection and benefit of the employees of the self insurer. Moreover, it is not unreasonable to construe the “delinquent premiums and assessments” as being in the nature of a penalty within the meaning of Section 440.50(4), which provides that: “All civil penalties provided in this chapter, if not voluntarily paid, may be collected by civil suit brought by the division and shall be paid into such fund.” See F.S....

...Jur., Workmen’s Compensation, § 3, p. 378. We are of the view therefore that nonpayment of delinquent assessments may be enforced in the circuit court to the same extent as other delinquent compensation orders either by the commission pursuant to Section 440.50(4) or by the trustees in accordance with applicable rules of pleading and practice....

on their contract obligation, and expressly by § 440.50 (4) Fla.Stat., F.S.A. Availing ourselves of the

...Such an award is provided for services rendered in workers’ compensation cases when the criteria set out in § 440.34, Florida Statutes, are present. . We caveat that nothing in this opinion shall preclude the recoupment of expenditures from the Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund when § 440.50, Florida Statutes, is applicable.

but denied additional compensation under F.S. § 440.50, F.S.A. on authority of the Lollie case, supra

...We reverse the order dismissing the claim, and remand for a determination on the merits. Jenkins sought temporary total disability benefits from her employer and its insurance carrier. Her claim did not seek relief of any kind from the Division of Workers’ Compensation or the fund established under section 440.50, Florida Statutes, which the Division administers. Section 440.49(1), Florida Statutes (1991), which requires that “[t]he division shall be a party to all hearings involving any claims made against the fund established by s. 440.50,” does not pertain here....

...to the administration of [chapter 440], including the vocational rehabilitation of injured employees ... and the payments due under s. 440.15(1)® and the funding of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Fraud within the Department of Insurance.” § 440.50(l)(a), Fla....

...e agreement. To raise the defense that a settlement is unreasonable from the standpoint of the employer and carrier and the claimant would nullify the provisions of Section 440.20(12) & (13), which subsections should be read in pari materia with Section 440.50 establishing the Trust Fund....

...Section 440.15(1)(e)1. has since been amended to provide that, among other things, the employer is responsible for the payment of supplemental benefits in all cases in which the injury occurred on or after July 1, 1984. Chapter 84-267, Laws of Florida. Section 440.50 provides for the establishment of the Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund, and Section 440.51 provides that the Division’s expenses for administration of the Workers' Compensation Act are to be assessed against the state's workers' compensation carriers and self-insurers....

...Amendments to Florida Rules of Workers’ Compensation Procedure, 603 So.2d 425, 448 (Fla.1992). References to the workers’ compensation rules in this opinion are to these amended rules which were effective on May 14, 1992. . The Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund is administered by the division, see section 440.50(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1991).

...al education and with any public or private agency cooperating with such federal or state agencies in the vocational rehabilitation of injured employees. The commission may, and it is authorized to, expend monies from the special fund established by § 440.50, for the purpose of assisting such injured employees to obtain appropriate training, education and employment in connection with their vocational rehabilitation....