Important Deadlines For Your Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Claim

In Pennsylvania, employees who are injured while on the job are often entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, which cover medical bills and lost wages. There are, however, specific deadlines with which injured workers must comply when filing their claims in order to qualify for these benefits. Failing to abide by these deadlines could result in a claim’s denial, which can have devastating consequences for injured employees and their families. To ensure that your own claim isn’t denied due to a failure to comply with these deadlines, please reach out to our experienced Wilkes Barre workers’ compensation legal team today.

Notifying Your Employer

One of the most important deadlines for injured workers in Pennsylvania is the 21 day notice requirement. Under state law, employees who are hurt on the job have three weeks to give their employer notice of that injury. Employees who can provide proof of reasonable cause for failing to provide that notice could, however, still be eligible to file a claim, as long as they do so within six months of the injury. After this deadline has passed, an employee’s claim will be time barred. The only exceptions to this rule apply in cases involving radiation, in which case, the time for filing notice with an employer will start when the employee knows about the injury and its connection to his or her employment.

Your Employer’s Decision

Once an injured employee has notified his or her employer of a workplace injury, that employer has 21 days to either issue a denial of the claim or request a 90 day extension to conduct a more in-depth investigation. After this deadline, the employer must issue a decision on the employee’s case.

Filing an Appeal

If an employer denies an employee’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits, the injured worker has three days from the date of the injury to file a Claim Petition. These petitions are then assigned to workers’ compensation judges based on where the employee lives. Once a case has been assigned, the parties involved will be notified as to the date, time, and place of the first hearing. Eventually, after hearing and receiving evidence submitted by both claimants and their employers, a judge can either schedule a case for mediation or issue a written decision on the claim.

At this point, both parties have 20 days to file an appeal with the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board if they disagree with the judge’s decision. Once the Board has issued an opinion on the case, the parties involved will be given another 30 days to file an appeal with the Commonwealth Court. Finally, both claimants and employers have 30 days from the date of the state court’s decision to file a petition with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Call Today to Learn More About Important Workers’ Comp Filing Deadlines

Failing to file a claim on time can result in its dismissal. To avoid this, please call the Figured Law Firm at 570-954-9299 and speak with dedicated Wilkes Barre workers’ compensation lawyer Keith Figured about Pennsylvania’s filing deadlines.

Resource:

dli.pa.gov/Businesses/Compensation/Documents/flow-of-wc-claim.pdf