What to do when the employer won't send a wage statement for a workers comp claim, for claims assistants?

Resend the state’s wage statement form to payroll or HR on a logged channel, covering the AWW period that state uses. Start indemnity on an estimate where the rule allows it. If the form still does not land, escalate inside the employer, then ask the state to request it. Rules vary. This is not legal advice.

This is for the claims assistant, case coordinator or medical-only examiner at a regional TPA, self-insured desk or carrier unit who works lost-time files in Guidewire, Origami Risk, mySedgwick, Juris or a spreadsheet of outstanding items.

A wage statement is the employer’s written report of pre-injury earnings, used to set average weekly wage (AWW). How to get a wage statement from an employer for a workers comp claim is the first request. This page is the file where that request already went out and payroll has gone silent, sent stubs, or refused the form. Rules vary by state. Check the state’s division and counsel.

Confirm it is a refusal

A “won’t send” diary is one where a complete request already reached the desk that has the wages.

What landed	What it usually is	First move
Silence after one note to the plant contact	Wrong desk	Ask for the payroll clerk by name
Pay stubs, a W-2, or a rate letter	Incomplete packet	Resend the state’s form. Keep stubs as backup
Payroll says they already sent it	Lost fax, portal, or inbox	Ask for the sent date, number, and who took it
Form with nonpecuniary wages left blank	Incomplete in Texas	Return it. Yes or no is required
Payroll will not complete a state form	Refusal	Escalate, then ask the state to request it

On r/WorkersComp in April 2025 an injured worker wrote that the employer would not answer their own insurance adjuster for weeks, including on work status. Wage-statement diaries hit the same silence: the carrier is waiting on payroll, and the plant contact never named that desk.

What to send on the second request

Resend the same complete packet to the same payroll clerk. A new inbox from a rush email loses the first attempt on the log.

Item	Why it is on the second request
The state’s form, or the carrier’s wage form, blank	Payroll will not hunt the form
Claim number, name as on payroll, date of injury	Match to the right employee
The AWW period to report	13 weeks before DOI in Texas and Florida. 52 weeks in New York. Skip the accident week on a Florida DWC-1a
Dates of every prior attempt, with fax, email or portal	So payroll can find the first packet
Return fax, email or portal, and the diary date	Already on the file for that employer
On a Texas file, notice that income benefits have accrued	28 TAC §128.2(e) (compiled rules updated 2026-01-06, read 2026-10-09) requires the carrier to tell the employer the wage statement is now required

Send it on the employer business line, payroll fax or the email already on the claim. Do not autodial the injured worker’s cell for this packet.

What still leaves the item open

What came back	Why the outstanding item stays open
Pay stubs or a payroll export with no form	Stubs are backup. They are not the statement
Oral figure from HR, logged as a file note	Not a filing the adjuster can defend
Hourly rate times 40, no actual hours	Estimate. Pay it where the state allows. Keep the form outstanding
Thirteen weeks that include days after DOI	Post-injury wages on the AWW period
Combined wages of two employees	Florida’s DWC-1a (03/2009, read 2026-10-09) says do not combine

How to chase after silence

Payroll or HR holds the ledger. The plant manager who reported the injury usually does not.

1. Pull the outstanding wage-statement row from Guidewire, Origami, mySedgwick, Juris or the spreadsheet. Confirm a complete first request went to payroll.
2. Call the same payroll clerk. Log the date, number, and who picked up. Three business days of silence after a complete request is enough to call.
3. If the clerk is gone, ask for the payroll supervisor by name. Stay on that employer, that location.
4. Copy the employer’s workers’ compensation coordinator on the resend. If the file has none, ask the first-report contact who handles workers’ compensation for the company.
5. When the indemnity diary is inside 14 days, escalate to the person who signs the policy, then ask the state to request the form.

Pay an estimate while the form is outstanding

Waiting on payroll is not a reason to miss the first indemnity payment where the state lets the carrier presume a wage.

On a Texas file, 28 TAC §128.2 (compiled rules updated 2026-01-06, read 2026-10-09) tells the carrier to presume hourly rate times usual hours, or the last full-week paycheck, until a complete wage statement is in, then recalculate. Texas Labor Code §408.063(a) (read 2026-10-09) lets the commissioner set those presumptions, including that the last paycheck reflects the usual wage. An estimate starts benefits. It does not close the outstanding item.

Florida §440.14 (2026 Florida Statutes, read 2026-10-09) sets AWW from 13 calendar weeks before the accident week. Other states differ. Check counsel.

A June 2024 r/WorkersComp commenter put the same move in plain terms: when the employer will not give wage information, the file pays hourly times 40 as an estimate and keeps pressing for the records.

State request clocks we read

Only states whose rule or form we read. Other states differ. A state request is a filing clock on the employer. It is not a substitute for the log on the claim.

Place	Form	When the employer has to file	What the desk asks the state to do
Texas	DWC Form-003 (Rev. 10/22, read 2026-10-09)	§408.063(b): 30 days after notice of injury. The Form-003 FAQ and 28 TAC §120.4 time it from notice of income-benefit entitlement, or a compensable death, and within seven days of a DWC request.	Ask DWC to request the form. Call 1-800-252-7031. A Division request starts the seven-day clock in §120.4(a)(3).
Florida	DFS-F2-DWC-1a	The form (Rule 69L-3.025, F.A.C.) says file with the claims-handling entity within 14 days after knowledge of an accident that caused disability for more than 7 calendar days.	Put the 14-day duty in the resend. Copy the employer’s workers’ compensation coordinator. Employee Assistance Office: 1-800-342-1741, on the form.
New York	C-240 / EC-240 (read 2026-10-09)	Subject Number 046-949 (June 19, 2017, read 2026-10-09) requires C-240 within 10 days of the Board’s request. Electronic only. Needs a WCB case number.	If the Board has not requested C-240, get the case number on the file and ask the Board to request it.

Texas Labor Code §408.063(c) says an employer who fails to file a wage statement commits an administrative violation. The Form-003 FAQ (Rev. 10/22, read 2026-10-09) says an employer who fails to timely file a complete wage statement without good cause may be fined.

When the employer still will not file

Keep the outstanding item open. Keep paying the estimate where the state allows it. Keep the log.

DWC consent order 2023-7874 (March 28, 2023, read 2026-10-09) fined an employer $3,000 after the carrier requested DWC Form-003, DWC requested it by mail and email, and the employer acknowledged the request by phone and still did not file. The order cited §408.063(c), §415.0035(e), §415.021, and 28 TAC §120.4(a)(1)-(3). One file, not a going rate.

A PEO, ADP feed or other payroll vendor is a channel. Send the form to the desk that runs payroll for that location, and copy the employer’s workers’ compensation coordinator. In Texas, 28 TAC §120.4(b) keeps the employer responsible for timely delivery.

If the employer has closed, send to the last payroll address on the file, then ask the state to request the form there. Use similar-employee wages where the state’s form calls for them. New York wants a worker of the same class when the injured worker did not work a substantial part of the year; Subject Number 046-949 uses 234 days on a five-day week or 270 on a six-day week as a guideline.

Pull the open lost-time claims with a wage-statement row still outstanding and a clock in the next 14 days. Confirm each has a complete request already sent to payroll, with every attempt on the claim log. Resend any stub stack or blank nonpecuniary section, send the Texas 128.2(e) notice if income benefits have accrued without a complete DWC Form-003, and ask the state to request the form on the files that are still silent that afternoon.