Referrals For Penalty Assessment

In addition to referrals made by a workers’ compensation judge, any Bureau employee may refer any person or entity to the penalty program for the assessment of a civil penalty whenever the referring employee believes that there may have been a violation of the Bureau’s rules or the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Law. Pursuant to this chapter, the penalty program shall be responsible for investigating all referrals for civil penalties, making determinations of whether assessment of a civil penalty is appropriate under the circumstances, assessing civil penalties, collecting civil penalties, and appearing at contested case hearings whenever a party that has been assessed a civil penalty chooses to challenge the assessment.