In order for your employer’s insurance company to pay out a claim award, they need to be made aware of your injury in the first place. This is why it’s so important to inform your manager or Human Resources of your injury as soon as possible after a work injury. If you don’t, you’re giving your company legal recourse to deny your claim. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the deadlines for reporting your work injury in Minnesota.
How Long Do I Have To Report A Work Injury?
Nobody wants to get hurt at work, and many businesses pride themselves on how safe their facilities are. In fact, many boast about how many days it’s been since their last accident or injury. While it’s great that they are working towards a safe environment for their employees, it can also create a workplace where the employee is reluctant to report their injury to management. They don’t want to be the one who resets the “Days Since Last Accident” chart back to zero, so they may try to work through the injury to avoid making waves.
Unfortunately, failing to report a work injury only hurts the worker. In fact, even small delays can result in justified denials of your compensation claim. Here’s a look at the deadlines to report your work injury in Minnesota:
0-14 Days – If you report your work injury to your employer within 14 days of the injury, your notice of injury is considered on time. Your claim cannot be denied on the grounds that you provided a late notice of injury.
15-30 Days – If you report the injury within this time frame, your employer is allowed to deny your claim because on late notice, but only if they can prove that they were harmed by your delay in making them aware.
31-180 Days – If you wait between one month and six months from the date of injury until you inform your employer of your work injury, your employer is allowed to deny your claim for late notice unless the delay is due to:
- Employee mistake
- Inadvertent non-notifications
- Ignorance of fact or law
- Inability to give notice
- Factual misrepresentation by your employer or an agent of your employer
If one of more of these factors exist, your employer can still deny your claim, but only if they can prove they were harmed by the delay in making them aware.
181 Days Or More – Your only chance at getting workers’ compensation from a work injury if it takes you more than 180 days to report your injury is if you can prove you were mentally or physically incapacitated.
Needless to say, your ability to collect rightful compensation can quickly become more difficult if you wait to report your injury. Don’t wait a week to see if it goes away on its own. Even if it doesn’t knock you out of work, you’ll want the incident on record so you can collect compensation if symptoms develop down the road. Don’t let your employer intimidate you into not filing an injury report.
If you’re finding it hard to report your injury or you want assistance with your injury claim, reach out to the experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at Hey Workers today.
