Agency Form Formatting for Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

In our continuing efforts to increase efficiency and reduce costs, the Workers' Compensation Agency is in the midst of several modernization and system enhancements.  One of these enhancements involves the application of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to obtain data from paper forms.  These upgrades will enable the Agency to serve our citizens with a greater efficiency while positioning the Agency for future operating system upgrades.

As a result, these process changes require data to be in very specific locations to prevent future problems.  This leaves little tolerance for location variation.  Therefore, effective July 1, 2013, pursuant to MCL 418.221, the Agency will require that all forms 100, 104A, 107, 701, 400 and 401 filed must match exactly those forms found on the Workers' Compensation Agency website, including but not limited to language, block space and positioning, font and dimension.  In addition, when data is input into the various forms an Arial 10 point font must be used, with each field limited to one line of data.

Forms not complying with these requirements filed on or after July 1, 2013, will be rejected and returned unprocessed.  In anticipation of these requirements, you should immediately make any necessary modifications to your current systems and processes so that forms filed on or after July 1, 2013 will be in the correct format and not be rejected.

As part of the OCR process, please also note that faxed copies of filings will no longer be accepted after July 1st.

Questions regarding these changes or what will be required effective July 1, 2013, should be directed to Ken Smith at 517-322-5937.

We thank you for your continued cooperation as we move through these transitions to better serve you, our customers.