Workers' Compensation Rules
of the N.C. Industrial Commission

ARTICLE V. AGREEMENTS

1. All compromise settlement agreements must be submitted to the Industrial Commission for approval. Only those agreements deemed fair and just and in the best interest of all parties will be approved.
    
2. No compromise agreement will be approved unless it contains the following language or its equivalent:
    
1. Where liability is admitted, that the employer or carrier/ administrator undertakes to pay all medical expenses to the date of the agreement.
    
2. Where liability is denied, that the employer or carrier/ administrator undertakes to pay all unpaid medical expenses to the date of the agreement. However, this requirement may be waived in the discretion of the Industrial Commission. When submitting an agreement for approval, the employee or employee’s attorney, if any, shall advise the Commission in writing of the amount of the unpaid medical expenses.
    
3. That the employee knowingly and intentionally waives the right to further benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act for the injury which is the subject of this agreement.
    
4. That the employer or carrier/administrator will pay all costs incurred.
    
5. That no rights other than those arising under the provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act are compromised or released.
    
6. That the employee has, or has not, returned to a job or position at the same or a greater average weekly wage as was being earned prior to the injury or occupational disease.
    
7. Where the employee has not returned to a job or position at the same or a greater wage as was being earned prior to the injury or occupational disease, that the employee has, or has not, returned to some other job or position, and, if so, the description of the particular job or position, the name of the employer and the average weekly wage earned. This subsection of the Rule shall not apply where the employee is represented by counsel or, even if the employee is not represented by counsel, where the employee certifies that partial wage loss due to an injury or occupational disease is not being claimed.
    
8. Where the employee has not returned to a job or position at the same or a greater average weekly wage as was being earned prior to the injury or occupational disease, the agreement shall summarize the employee’s age, educational level, past vocational training, past work experience, and any impairment, emotional, mental or physical, which predates the current injury or occupational disease. The parties will be relieved of this duty only upon a showing that providing such information creates an unreasonable burden upon them. This subsection of the Rule shall not apply where employee is represented by counsel or, even if the employee is not represented by counsel, where the employee certifies that total wage loss due to an injury or occupational disease is not being claimed.
3. No compromise agreement will be considered unless the following additional requirements are met:
    
1. All medical, vocational, and rehabilitation reports known to exist, including but not limited to those pertinent to the employee’s future earning capacity, must be submitted with the agreement to the Industrial Commission by the employer, the carrier/administrator, or the attorney for the employer.
    
2. Parties and all attorneys of record must have signed the agreement.
4. When a settlement has been reached, the written agreement must be submitted to the Industrial Commission within a reasonable time. All compromise settlement agreements which are currently calendared for hearing before a Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner shall be sent directly to that Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner at the Industrial Commission. Before a case is calendared, or once a case has been continued, or removed, or after the filing of an Opinion and Award, all compromise settlement agreements shall be directed to the Executive Secretary of the Industrial Commission.
    
5. Once a compromise settlement agreement has been approved by the Industrial Commission, the employer or carrier/administrator shall furnish an executed copy of said agreement to the employee or his attorney of record, if any.
    
6. An attorney seeking fees in connection with a Compromise Settlement Agreement shall submit to the Commission a copy of the fee agreement with the client.

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