Oklahoma WCC Update

from Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission Chairman Mark Liotta

In the short six-year life of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, no four-month period can be described as more disrupted and unpredictable as the period of March to June of 2020. In order to continue functioning, while keeping our employees and the public safe during this time, we responded in the following manner:

• We shut down all operations for two weeks after a prolonged exposure.
• Employees worked remotely from home, by phone, and the internet.
• We restarted every process and service EXCEPT the main purpose for our existence, live, in-person hearings for contested claims.
• We held appeal hearings where the parties could present their case remotely.
• We held all-staff meetings virtually.
• We restarted live in-person contested hearings, docketed and limited to specific times, and hearing rooms are continuously cleaned,.
• We adjusted almost every process to be accomplished electronically and bought laptops for critical positions.
• We put up shields in every hearing room and interactive station, bought face coverings for every employee and guest, and installed hand sanitizer stations.
• We proposed a replacement for the 2012 fee schedule and gained legislative approval.
• We obtained the Governor’s blessing on updated administrative rules.
• Our Administrative Law Judges and order writers kept the machine in motion for filings, mediations, and joint petitions.
• Our Compliance and Permitting folks maintained our regulatory obligations, but tempered enforcement with discretion appropriate to the day.
• We worked late evenings adjusting operations with every piece of new information and kept employees and the public updated to the best of our ability.
• We had prepared for disruption, but if I had been told to get ready for this set of circumstances I would have guessed we would need at least a month.  I’m not sure I would have believed all of it possible. But the team we have in place rose to the occasion, threw out any thoughts of limitations on our abilities, and made it all happen.

We’ve found that most of our processes can be accomplished with technology, except where statute prohibits. We can hold necessary public meetings remotely and accomplish the tasks at hand.  We can react to any situation and continue to perform effectively for our customers throughout the State, while protecting each other from risk.

But I have to admit, we are all tired.

We miss the ease with which we could discuss, work, and help each other before this new set of circumstances.  We miss the one-on-one interaction, the birthday and retirement parties, the group lunches, the silly social events. We miss the crowds of attorneys, doctors, contractors, claimants, and respondents who filled our halls, busily visiting to get their business accomplished.

We will probably retain most of the efficiencies which have been forced on us by these last four months, but we are more than ready for a relaxing of the concern, the hesitation, and the fear of the unknown.  We look forward to the return of a handshake, an uncovered smile, and sometimes a hug when seeing an old friend.

Thank you all, employees and customers, for your patience, your hard work, your care for one another, and your prayers for all of us.  We will get through this and come out better on the other side.