Hurt at Work? Find Out if Your Employer Even Has Coverage

Twenty-four percent of Texas employers carry no workers’ comp. Here’s how to find out whether yours is one.

If you were hurt at work in Lubbock—on a rig floor in the Permian fringe, in a warehouse off Interstate 27, on a farm outside Shallowater, or in a hospital hallway—you probably assumed workers’ compensation would cover it. Most workers do. But Texas is the only state in the country where private employers can simply opt out of the workers’ compensation system, and a meaningful number of them are doing just that. 

The Texas Department of Insurance surveys employers every two years. In its most recent report, 24% of private-sector Texas employers carried no workers’ compensation coverage, and about 13% of Texas employees worked for one of them. Employees without coverage are called nonsubscribers. If yours is one, almost everything you think you know about a work injury claim is wrong—and much of it is wrong in your favor.

How do you know if your Lubbock employer subscribes?

Don’t assume you’re entitled to workers’ compensation just because a supervisor says so, or it sort of looks that way in your HR portal. Companies often run an in-house “injury benefit plan” with claim forms, adjusters, and benefit schedules that look exactly like workers’ comp, but they’re not workers’ comp. 

You can verify coverage independently by using one of these sources:

1. Call the TDI Division of Workers’ Compensation consumer hotline at 800-252-7031. You can also email [email protected] with your employer’s name, physical address, and your date of injury. DWC says a representative will respond with coverage information within one business day. 
2. Search the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) verification database. It’s linked from the TDI here: https://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/employer/coverage.html. You can find insured employers and the certified self-insurer lists for large private and government employers. 
3. Search the state’s nonsubscriber dataset on the Texas Open Data Portal. Nonsubscribers with five or more employees must file DWC Form-005 annually between February 1 and April 30, within 30 days of hiring a first employee and within 10 days of a DWC request.

One note of caution: A company’s absence from the list doesn’t prove anything. Employers under-report. You can verify through DWC directly.

What changes if your employer doesn’t subscribe?

Everything changes. 

A subscribing employer is generally immune from a lawsuit—the injured employee receives statutory benefits and nothing more. 

There is no compensation for pain and suffering, no full wage replacement, and the claims process is governed by strict deadlines (i.e. you must report within 30 days and file within one year). 

But if the employer is a nonsubscriber, an injured employee may file a personal injury lawsuit in civil court. The Texas Labor Code § 406.033 strips the employer of the three defenses that normally defeat a workplace injury claim. 

The employee may not argue the following:

1. That the employee was contributorily negligent; 
2. That the employee assumed the risk; or
3. A coworker’s negligence caused the injury.

In practical terms, “the employee was careless,” and “the coworker did it” are off the table. All that does remain is intentional self-injury and intoxication. 

The plaintiff-employee must prove that the employer—or an employee acting in the scope of their employment—was negligent. This is the whole dispute: Untrained crews, missing guards, unsafe loads, ignored complaints, lockout/tagout issues, etc. 

The upside is that damages are not capped by a benefit schedule. The claimant may recover full past and future lost earnings, medical care, physical impairment, disfigurement, and pain and mental anguish. 

However, there was a significant development in 2025: In In re East Texas Medical Center Athens, 712 S.W.3d 88 (Tex. 2025), the Texas Supreme Court held that nonsubscribers may still use proportionate responsibility to designate responsible third parties and shift fault away from themselves. Losing the § 406.033 defenses doesn’t mean the employer has no defense at all.

Q&A: Lubbock workers’ compensation attorney John Gibson

Can you avoid being “trapped” by red tape?

Pre-injury waivers are void

Any agreement giving up your right to sue, that was signed before you were injured, is unenforceable. Post-injury waivers are only valid if:

• They are voluntary; 
• Signed no earlier than the 10th business day after the injury report; 
• After a nonemergency doctor’s evaluation; and
• Conspicuously written.

An adjuster will sometimes present this early; do not sign it before speaking with your attorney.

Arbitration clauses can be risky

Many nonsubscriber plans require arbitration and shorten your deadline to file a lawsuit from the normal statutory two years to one year. Texas courts have enforced those shortened contractual limitations periods.

Ask the DWC

“Texas law requires employers that do not carry workers’ compensation coverage to notify their employees by posting a notice in the workplace and providing written notice to new hires. These disclosures play a critical role in ensuring workers understand their employer’s coverage status and what protections apply if an injury occurs. We encourage workers to be aware of these notices and visit DWC’s website for additional information about their rights under Texas law.”
—Jeff Nelson, Texas Workers’ Compensation Commissioner

What you should do as an injured employee

1. Report the injury in writing, and keep a copy. 
2. Get independent medical evaluation and treatment, and follow the treatment plan. 
3. Photograph the scene and equipment at the time of your injury. 
4. Obtain names of any coworkers who witnessed the accident. 
5. Request a copy of your personnel file and every document you signed during the hiring or onboarding process. 
6. Have a lawyer read the plan documents in full before you accept any benefits.