What is OIEC?

OIEC stands for Office of Injured Employee Counsel. The legislature created OIEC as a supposedly independent agency from the Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation, which administers the workers' compensation hearings and compliance system. But they share offices and most staff at OIEC have come from the TDI-DWC.

The main purpose of OIEC is to assist injured employees in representing themselves in workers' compensation hearings. They do this free of charge as the "ombudsmen" charged with assisting employees this way are salaried state employees.

It important to understand that an ombudsman is not your attorney. An ombudsman is not an attorney at all, but an individual with certain required training in workers' compensation. Some may be former insurance adjusters or state employees at the Department of Insurance. Therefore it is not the role of the ombudsman to give legal advice, represent injured employees, or anything like that. The role of an ombudsman is to provide experienced assistance free of charge so that injured employees can have knowledgeable help in representing themselves. An ombudsman cannot file suit and cannot advise regarding legal issues that may be related to the case (such as employment law issues, third party claims, and judicial review litigation).