Accident and payment reports; penalties.

A. The director shall monitor the accident or disablement and payment reports filed by employers or insurers pursuant to Sections 52-1-58, 52-1-60 and 52-3-51 NMSA 1978. The director shall publish reports on those employers or insurers who are late either in submitting their accident or disablement reports or in making their initial payments on claims. In determining the timeliness of an initial payment on a claim, the director shall consider any initial payment to be late if it is received more than fourteen days after the filing of the report required in Section 52-1-58 or 52-3-51 NMSA 1978. B. The director is authorized to take corrective action to prevent delays from occurring and may impose a penalty upon an employer or insurer who is at fault in causing a late initial payment on a claim. The insurance policy may not provide that any such penalty imposed upon an employer be paid by his insurer. That penalty may be an additional award to the worker who received the late payment of up to one hundred percent of the amount of the initial payment due.