If you suffer serious injuries on the job that mean you have to get picked up by ambulance and rushed to the hospital, it’s safe to say that your employer is going to know you were hurt almost instantly. There’s nothing secret about it.
That said, you still need to file a workers’ compensation claim and officially report the injury. What if you have been injured in a way that wasn’t as immediately obvious? How long do you have to make that report?
The statute of limitations
The time limit is known as a statute of limitations, and you cannot seek workers’ comp benefits if you exceed it. The statute of limitations is one year in Connecticut. You have plenty of time to make sure that you get the compensation you need. There is no rush.
That said, it’s still wise to file this injury report as soon as you can. It may make it easier for you to get the workers’ comp benefits you need.
For instance, if you wait for six months, you may be within the statute of limitations, but your employer may still claim that you had plenty of time to be injured at home and then claim it happened at work. If you file the report on the same day that you are injured, you can remove some of the potential pitfalls by making it clear that the incident did happen on the job. So, while you technically can wait for a year, you may not want to do so.
If you do need to seek worker’s compensation benefits after an injury, make sure you know what steps to take.
