The Division of Workers’ Compensation Funds is responsible for the administration, legal representation and maintenance of payment records for the Special Fund and Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund.  The Special Fund is liable for part of the income benefits awarded for occupational injuries and diseases resulting from incidents or last injurious exposures occurring prior to December 12, 1996.  The fund was created in the mid-1940s to encourage the hiring and retention of workers with disability.  That purpose was accomplished by shifting liability to the Special Fund for the portion of occupational disability resulting from pre-existing diseases or conditions.

The Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund is ordinarily liable for 50 percent of the income and retraining benefits awarded for disability resulting from coal workers’ pneumoconiosis when the last injurious exposure to coal dust occurred after December 12, 1996.  However, fund liability may be 100 percent for certain awards where the last injurious exposure occurred prior to July 15, 2002.  The fund was created in 1996 to assure that liabilities incurred in workers’ compensation awards for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, when the last coal dust exposure was after December 12, 1996, be the financial responsibility of employers engaged in the severance and processing of coal. 

The division paid about $77 million in benefits to over 10,000 disabled workers or surviving dependants in Fiscal Year 2005.