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Workers Comp Laws in 50 States

Read­ing Time: 16 min­utes

Last Updat­ed on June 28, 2023 

Each state has its own Work­ers’ Comp Laws, which can make it dif­fi­cult to under­stand your rights and options. If you have been injured on the job, you may be enti­tled to work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits, but you need to know how to file a claim and nego­ti­ate the com­plex­i­ties of the law. Call now for a free con­sul­ta­tion with an expe­ri­enced work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion lawyer at 844–682-0999.

  • Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion laws vary by state.
  • You may be enti­tled to work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits if you have been injured on the job.
  • An expe­ri­enced Work­ers’ Comp Lawyer can help you under­stand your rights and options and file a claim for benefits.

Workers Comp Laws in 50 States: What You Need to Know for Successful Resolution

Each state sets it’s own workers’ compensation requirements

Workers’ Compensation Laws Vary by State

Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion is a type of insur­ance that pro­vides ben­e­fits to employ­ees who are injured or become ill on the job. Ben­e­fits can include med­ical expens­es, lost wages, and death benefits.

  • Eli­gi­bil­i­ty cri­te­ria: The require­ments for being eli­gi­ble for work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits, such as the type of employ­ment, num­ber of employ­ees, and cov­er­age thresh­olds, can vary.
  • Ben­e­fit cal­cu­la­tion: Each state has its own for­mu­la or method for cal­cu­lat­ing the amount of ben­e­fits a work­er is enti­tled to, such as the per­cent­age of aver­age week­ly wage or a fixed sched­ule of benefits.
  • Statu­to­ry lim­its: States may impose caps or lim­its on cer­tain ben­e­fits, such as max­i­mum week­ly ben­e­fit amounts, max­i­mum dura­tion of ben­e­fits, or max­i­mum total payout.
  • Wait­ing peri­od: The length of time an injured work­er must be unable to work before becom­ing eli­gi­ble for wage replace­ment ben­e­fits may vary.
  • Med­ical treat­ment: The spe­cif­ic med­ical treat­ments and ser­vices cov­ered under work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion can dif­fer between states. This includes the type and dura­tion of med­ical care, pre­scrip­tion med­ica­tions, reha­bil­i­ta­tion ser­vices, and assis­tive devices.
  • Voca­tion­al reha­bil­i­ta­tion: The avail­abil­i­ty and scope of voca­tion­al reha­bil­i­ta­tion ser­vices, such as job retrain­ing, voca­tion­al coun­sel­ing, and job place­ment assis­tance, can vary.
  • Dis­pute res­o­lu­tion process: The pro­ce­dures for resolv­ing dis­putes relat­ed to work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claims, includ­ing the process for appeal­ing a denial or dis­put­ing a deci­sion, can dif­fer from state to state.
  • Statute of lim­i­ta­tions: The time lim­its with­in which a work­er must report an injury, file a claim, or pur­sue legal action can vary between states.
  • Cov­er­age exclu­sions: Some states may have spe­cif­ic exclu­sions or lim­i­ta­tions on cov­er­age, such as injuries caused by employ­ee mis­con­duct, self-inflict­ed injuries, or cer­tain occu­pa­tion­al diseases.
  • Death ben­e­fits: The types and amounts of ben­e­fits avail­able to depen­dents or ben­e­fi­cia­ries in the event of a work­er’s death can vary, includ­ing funer­al expens­es, ongo­ing finan­cial sup­port, and edu­ca­tion­al ben­e­fits for children.
  • Aver­age week­ly wage cal­cu­la­tion: The method used to cal­cu­late the aver­age week­ly wage, which forms the basis for deter­min­ing the amount of wage replace­ment ben­e­fits, can vary between states. Some states use the actu­al wages earned pri­or to the injury, while oth­ers may use an aver­age of wages over a spe­cif­ic period.
  • Cost-of-liv­ing adjust­ments: Some states may pro­vide cost-of-liv­ing adjust­ments to work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits to account for infla­tion and changes in the cost of liv­ing over time. The fre­quen­cy and cal­cu­la­tion method for these adjust­ments can vary.
  • Reha­bil­i­ta­tion ben­e­fits: The avail­abil­i­ty and scope of reha­bil­i­ta­tion ben­e­fits, includ­ing job retrain­ing, voca­tion­al coun­sel­ing, and relat­ed sup­port ser­vices, may dif­fer between states. Some states may pro­vide com­pre­hen­sive reha­bil­i­ta­tion pro­grams, while oth­ers may have more lim­it­ed offerings.
  • Sec­ond opin­ion and inde­pen­dent med­ical exam­i­na­tions: The rules and pro­ce­dures for obtain­ing sec­ond opin­ions or inde­pen­dent med­ical exam­i­na­tions to assess an injured work­er’s con­di­tion or treat­ment plan can vary. Some states may have spe­cif­ic guide­lines or reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing these processes.
  • Attor­ney’s fees: The rules and reg­u­la­tions regard­ing attor­ney’s fees in work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion cas­es can vary. Some states may have lim­i­ta­tions on the per­cent­age of ben­e­fits that an attor­ney can col­lect as fees, while oth­ers may allow more flexibility.
  • Lump-sum set­tle­ments: The rules and approval process­es for lump-sum set­tle­ments, which allow injured work­ers to receive a one-time pay­ment instead of ongo­ing ben­e­fits, can dif­fer between states. Some states may require court or admin­is­tra­tive approval for such set­tle­ments, while oth­ers may not.
  • Occu­pa­tion­al dis­eases: The spe­cif­ic cri­te­ria and cov­er­age for occu­pa­tion­al dis­eases, includ­ing the types of dis­eases cov­ered, the qual­i­fy­ing con­di­tions, and the time lim­its for fil­ing claims, can vary between states.
  • Retrain­ing and edu­ca­tion ben­e­fits: Some states may offer retrain­ing and edu­ca­tion ben­e­fits to injured work­ers who need to acquire new skills or pur­sue alter­na­tive careers due to their work-relat­ed injuries. The avail­abil­i­ty, eli­gi­bil­i­ty cri­te­ria, and scope of these ben­e­fits can differ.
  • Third-par­ty lia­bil­i­ty: In cas­es where a third par­ty, such as a con­trac­tor or equip­ment man­u­fac­tur­er, is respon­si­ble for the work­er’s injury, the rules and reg­u­la­tions regard­ing pur­su­ing a sep­a­rate per­son­al injury law­suit or claim­ing addi­tion­al com­pen­sa­tion from the third par­ty can vary between states.
  • Penal­ty pro­vi­sions: Some states may have penal­ty pro­vi­sions in their work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion laws to address sit­u­a­tions where employ­ers or insur­ance car­ri­ers act in bad faith or fail to meet their oblig­a­tions. The spe­cif­ic penal­ties and enforce­ment mech­a­nisms can differ.

If you have been injured on the job, it is impor­tant to under­stand your rights and options under work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion law. An expe­ri­enced work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion lawyer can help you under­stand your rights and options and file a claim for benefits.

Here are some of the key things to keep in mind if you have been injured on the job:

  • Report your injury to your employ­er as soon as possible.
  • Get med­ical atten­tion for your injury.
  • Keep a record of your med­ical expenses.
  • Keep a record of your lost wages.

Federal Workers Compensation System

Fed­er­al Work­ers do not fol­low state laws but Fed­er­al Work­ers Comp laws. The Gov­ern­ment Employ­ees Com­pen­sa­tion Act (GECA) pro­vides com­pen­sa­tion for the loss of earn­ings, med­ical care and oth­er relat­ed ben­e­fits to fed­er­al employ­ees for work relat­ed injury. 

Felony for Lack of Workers Comp Insurance !

  • Every state requires employ­ers to car­ry work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insurance. 
  • In NY, it is a felony not to have the man­dat­ed work­ers’ comp insurance. 
  • In all cas­es, the num­ber of employ­ees deter­mines when a busi­ness needs work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insurance.

Workers Comp Marketplace

  • Employ­ers must buy work­ers’ comp insur­ance from the pri­vate mar­ket, except for four states. 
  • The four monop­o­lis­tic states are North Dako­ta, Ohio, Wash­ing­ton and Wyoming. Addi­tion­al­ly, Puer­to Rico and the U.S. Vir­gin Islands also bar pri­vate insur­ance. In these states, employ­ers must buy work­ers’ comp insur­ance from an insur­ance fund oper­at­ed by the state.

Workers’ Comp Statute, Boards, Address and Statute of Limitations by Jurisdiction

StateWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion StatuteState Work­ers’ Comp Depart­mentAddressStatute of Limitations
Alaba­maAlaba­ma Code §25–5‑1 et seq.Alaba­ma Depart­ment of LaborDepart­ment of Labor
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
649 Mon­roe Street
Mont­gomery, AL 36131
(334) 956‑4044 or (800) 528‑5166		2 years from the date of injury or 2 years from the date of last com­pen­sa­tion paymentNot required for busi­ness­es with less than five employ­ees. Does not cov­er casu­al employ­ees, domes­tic ser­vants, farm labor­ers, licensed real estate agents or prod­uct demonstrators
Alas­kaAS §23.30.005, et. seqDepart­ment of Labor & Work­force DevelopmentDepart­ment of Labor & Work­force Devel­op­ment
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
1111 West 8th Street, Room 307
P. O. Box 115512
Juneau, AK 99811–5512
(907) 465‑2790 or (877) 783‑4980		Notice of an injury or death shall be giv­en 30 days to the board and to the employerDoes­n’t cov­er con­tract enter­tain­ers, com­mer­cial fish­er­men, domes­tic ser­vants, harvest/transient work­ers or taxi cab drivers
Ari­zonaAri­zona Revised Statutes Anno­tat­ed §§23–901, et seq.Indus­tri­al Com­mis­sion of ArizonaARIZONA
Indus­tri­al Com­mis­sion of Ari­zona
Claims Divi­sion
800 West Wash­ing­ton Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602) 542‑4661
*mail­ing address
P.O. Box 19070
Phoenix, AZ 85005		1 year of the date of injuryDoes­n’t cov­er casu­al employ­ees or inde­pen­dent contractors
ArkansasArkansas Code Anno­tat­ed § 11–9‑101 et seq.Arkansas Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionArkansas Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
324 Spring Street
P. O. Box 950
Lit­tle Rock, AR 72203–0950
(501) 682‑3930 or (800) 622‑4472		2 years of the injury or 1 year from the date of last com­pen­sa­tion paymentDoes­n’t cov­er casu­al employ­ees, farm labor­ers, inmates, or state employees
Cal­i­for­niaCal­i­for­nia Labor Code Divi­sion 3, sec­tion 2700 through Divi­sion 4.7, sec­tion 6208Depart­ment of Indus­tri­al RelationsDepart­ment of Indus­tri­al Rela­tions
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
455 Gold­en Gate Avenue, 2nd Floor
San Fran­cis­co, CA 94102–7014
(415) 703‑5020 or (800) 736‑7401		1 year from the date of injuryDoes­n’t cov­er ama­teur sport­ing event offi­cials; deputy clerks; deputy sher­iffs; domes­tic work­ers employed by par­ents, spouse or child; vol­un­teers for non-prof­it recre­ation­al camps or ski patrols
Not pro­vid­ing work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion pay­ments can result in a year in jail and fail­ure to insure can cost a busi­ness $100,000 in fines
Col­oradoCol­orado Revised Statutes §8–40-101, et seq.Depart­ment of Labor and EmploymentDepart­ment of Labor and Employ­ment
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
633 17th Street, Suite 400
Den­ver, CO 80202–3660
(303) 318‑8700 or (888) 390‑7936		2 years from the date of injuryDoes­n’t cov­er dri­vers under lease agree­ments with com­mon or con­tract car­ri­ers, inmates or volunteers
Con­necti­cutCon­necti­cut Gen­er­al Statutes Sec­tions 31–275 through 31–355a, et seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
Capi­tol Place
21 Oak Street
Hart­ford, CT 06106
(860) 493‑1500 or (800) 223‑9675 (Toll-Free in Connecticut)		1 year from the date of injury; 3 years from the first man­i­fes­ta­tion of symp­toms for occu­pa­tion­al dis­ease claimsDoes­n’t cov­er casu­al employ­ees, inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors or sole proprietors
DelawareDelaware Code Anno­tat­ed Title 19, §§2301–2397Depart­ment of LaborDepart­ment of Labor
Divi­sion of Indus­tri­al Affairs
Office of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
4425 North Mar­ket Street
Wilm­ing­ton, DE 19802
(302) 761‑8200		1 year from the date of injuryDoes­n’t include a spouse or minor child of a farm employ­er not named on insur­ance, any­one who sells prod­ucts not in a space con­trolled by the employ­er, or casu­al employees
Dis­trict of ColumbiaDis­trict of Colum­bia Code Anno­tat­ed §32–1501, et seq.Depart­ment of Employ­ment ServicesDepart­ment of Employ­ment Ser­vices
Labor Stan­dards Bureau
Office of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
4058 Min­neso­ta Avenue, N.E.
Wash­ing­ton, DC 20019
(202) 671‑1000		2 years from the date of injury; 5 years from date of last ben­e­fit pay­ment once claim is acknowledgedAn employ­ee whose employ­er is an unin­sured sub­con­trac­tor can assert a claim against the super­vis­ing gen­er­al contractor
Flori­daChap­ter 440, Flori­da Statutes, et seq.Depart­ment of Finan­cial ServicesDepart­ment of Finan­cial Ser­vices
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
200 East Gaines Street
Tal­la­has­see, FL 32399–0318
(800) 342‑1741		2 years from the date of injury or 1 year after last date of received benefitsDoes­n’t apply to: Bands, orches­tras, musi­cal or the­ater per­form­ers and DJs, Casu­al employ­ees, Inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors (exclud­ing con­struc­tion industry)Licensed real estate bro­kers. Some sports offi­cials. Some taxi cab or oth­er vehi­cle for hire operators
Geor­giaOffi­cial Code of Geor­gia Anno­tat­ed §§34–9‑1, et seq.Geor­gia State Board of Work­ers’ CompensationGeor­gia State Board of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
270 Peachtree Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30303–1299
(404) 656‑3818 or (800) 533‑0682		1 year of the date of injuryExcludes rail com­mon car­ri­ers engaged in interstate/intrastate com­merce, domes­tic ser­vants, farm labor­ers, inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors and licensed real estate sales­peo­ple or asso­ciate brokers
HawaiiHawaii Revised Statutes, Chap­ter 386Depart­ment of Labor and Indus­tri­al RelationsDepart­ment of Labor and Indus­tri­al Rela­tions
Dis­abil­i­ty Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
Princess Kee­likolani Build­ing
830 Punch­bowl Street, Room 209
Hon­olu­lu, HI 96813
(808) 586‑9161
*mail­ing address
P. O. Box 3769
Hon­olu­lu, HI 96812–3769		2 years after the date at which the effects of the injury have become man­i­fest, and 5 years after the date of the acci­dent which caused the injurySome con­trac­tors are exempt
Ida­hoIda­ho Code §72–101, et. seq.Indus­tri­al CommissionIndus­tri­al Com­mis­sion
11321 W. Chin­den Boule­vard, Build­ing # 2
Boise, ID 83714
*mail­ing address
P. O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720–0041
(208) 334‑6000 or (800) 950‑2110 (toll free out­side Boise)		No time lim­it for the ini­tial claim; 1 year from date of last pay­ment if ben­e­fits have been paid for more than 4 yearsDoes­n’t apply to casu­al work­ers, domes­tic ser­vants, offi­cials of sec­ondary school ath­let­ics, pilots of spray­ing or dust­ing planes, real estate bro­kers and sales­peo­ple, vol­un­teer ski patrol
Illi­nois820 Illi­nois Com­piled Statutes Anno­tat­ed 305/1, et seq.Illi­nois Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionILLINOIS
Illi­nois Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
Cook Coun­ty Office Build­ing
69 W. Wash­ing­ton Street, Suite 900
Chica­go, IL 60602
(312) 814‑6611 or (866) 352‑3033		2 years from the last pay­ment of com­pen­sa­tion from your job, or 3 years from the date of your injury (whichev­er is longer)Does­n’t apply to farm­ers, jurors, or real estate bro­kers and sales­peo­ple. Busi­ness own­ers who fail to make pay­ments face fines of $500 per day with a $10,000 min­i­mum fine
Indi­anaInd. Code §22–3‑1–1 et seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Board of IndianaWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Board of Indi­ana
402 West Wash­ing­ton Street
Room W‑196
Indi­anapo­lis, IN 46204
(317) 232‑3811 or (800) 824‑2667		2 years from the date of injury; 2 years after last date of com­pen­sa­tion madeDoes­n’t apply to agri­cul­tur­al work­ers, casu­al labor­ers, employ­ees of fire or police depart­ments that have pen­sion funds, house­hold employ­ees and some rail­road and rail yard employees
IowaIowa Code §85.1 et seq.Iowa Work­force DevelopmentIowa Work­force Devel­op­ment
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
150 Des Moines Street
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 725‑4120 or (800) 645‑4583		2 years from the date of injury; 3 years after last date of com­pen­sa­tion madeDoes­n’t apply to agri­cul­tur­al employ­ees earn­ing less than $2,500 in the year pri­or to the injury, casu­al or house­hold employ­ees who earned less than $1,500 in the year pri­or to injury or some offi­cers of cor­po­ra­tions or farms
KansasKansas Statutes Anno­tat­ed §44–501 et seq.Depart­ment of LaborIowa Work­force Devel­op­ment
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
150 Des Moines Street
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 725‑4120 or (800) 645‑4583		200 days from the date of the acci­dent or 200 days after last pay­ment of benefitsNo excep­tions. Applies to any­one who has entered into ser­vice or apprenticeship
Ken­tuckyKen­tucky Revised Statutes § 342.0011 et seq.;803
Ken­tucky Admin­is­tra­tive Reg­u­la­tions. 25:009 et seq.		Ken­tucky Labor CabinetKen­tucky Labor Cab­i­net
Depart­ment of Work­ers’ Claims
500 Mero Street, 3rd Floor
Frank­fort, KY 40601
(502) 564‑5550		2 years of the date of injury or last vol­un­tary pay­ment of dis­abil­i­ty income ben­e­fits, whichev­er is laterDoes­n’t apply to domes­tic ser­vants (if there are less than two employed in the home for 40 or less hours per week) or main­te­nance or sim­i­lar type work­ers employed in a pri­vate home if the employ­er has no oth­er employ­ees sub­ject to work­ers’ comp
LouisianaLouisiana Revised Statutes Anno­tat­ed §23:1021 et seq.
Louisiana Revised Statutes Anno­tat­ed §33:2581		Louisiana Work­force CommissionLouisiana Work­force Com­mis­sion
Office of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
1001 North 23rd Street
P.O. Box 94040
Baton Rouge, LA 70804–9040
(225) 342‑3111		1 year from the date of injury; 1 year from the date a dis­abil­i­ty devel­ops, but no lat­er than 2 years from the date of an accidentDoes­n’t apply to employ­ees of pri­vate homes, employ­ees of unin­cor­po­rat­ed farms or musi­cians or oth­er per­form­ers under contract
MaineMaine Revised Statutes Anno­tat­ed, title 39‑A, or 39‑A M.R.S.A. §101 et seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion BoardWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Board
442 Civ­il Cen­ter Dri­ve, Suite 100
Augus­ta, ME 04330–8572
*mail­ing address:
27 State House Sta­tion
Augus­ta, ME 04333–0027
(207) 287‑3751 or (888) 801‑9087		2 years from the date an employ­er is required to file a First Report (1 or more days of lost time) or the date of injury if no First Report is requiredDoes­n’t apply to cer­tain agri­cul­tur­al employ­ees, inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors or peo­ple cov­ered by admi­ral­ty law
Mary­landMary­land Code Ann., Lab & Empl. §9–101 (2014) et seq.; Code of Mary­land Reg­u­la­tions (COMAR) Title 14, §09.01.01 et seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
10 East Bal­ti­more Street, 4th Floor
Bal­ti­more, MD 21202
(410) 864‑5100 or (800) 492‑0479		2 years from the date of injury; 18 months from the date of death (for death ben­e­fits); 1 year after employ­ee has rea­son to believe he or she has an occu­pa­tion­al diseaseApplies to any reg­u­lar pay­roll employ­ee but not to inde­pen­dent contractors
Mass­a­chu­settsMass­a­chu­setts Gen­er­al Laws, Chap­ter 152Exec­u­tive Office of Labor and Work­force DevelopmentDepart­ment of Indus­tri­al Acci­dents
Depart­ment 110
Lafayette City Cen­ter
2 Avenue de Lafeyette
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 727‑4900 or (800) 323‑3249		4 years of the date an employ­ee becomes aware of the causal con­nec­tion between their dis­abil­i­ty and their employmentDoes­n’t apply to casu­al employ­ees, peo­ple employed in pro­fes­sion­al ath­let­ics, real estate bro­kers and oth­ers who work on com­mis­sion only or those employed in inter­state or for­eign commerce
Michi­ganMichi­gan Com­piled Laws Anno­tat­ed 418.101–941Depart­ment of Licens­ing and Reg­u­la­to­ry AffairsDepart­ment of Licens­ing and Reg­u­la­to­ry Affairs
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Agency
2501 Wood­lake Cir­cle
Oke­mos, MI 48864
*mail­ing address:
P. O. Box 30016
Lans­ing, MI 48909
(888) 396‑5041		2 years of the date of injuryExclu­sions apply for domes­tic work­ers, real estate bro­kers or agents, some agri­cul­tur­al employ­ees and some small­er employers
Min­neso­taMin­neso­ta Statutes Anno­tat­ed Ch. 175A and 176, et seq.Depart­ment of Labor and IndustryDepart­ment of Labor and Indus­try
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
443 Lafayette Road North
St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 284‑5005 or (800) 342‑5354		3 years of the date of injury if employ­er filed a First Report of Injury with the Min­neso­ta Dept. of Labor and Indus­try; oth­er­wise, 6 years of the date of injuryDoes­n’t apply to farm­ers or fam­i­ly mem­bers of farm­ers who exchange work with oth­er farmers.
Mis­sis­sip­piSec­tion 71–3‑1 et. seq., MISS. CODE ANNWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
1428 Lake­land Dri­ve
Jack­son, MS 39296–5300
(601) 987‑4200 or (866) 473‑6922		2 years of the date of injury; if reopen­ing a claim, 1 year fol­low­ing cor­rect fil­ing of Form B‑31 or 1 year of claim denialDoes­n’t apply to inde­pen­dent contractors
Mis­souriChap­ter 287 R.S.Mo. 2005Depart­ment of Labor and Indus­tri­al RelationsDepart­ment of Labor and Indus­tri­al Rela­tions
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
3315 West Tru­man Blvd., Room 131
P. O. Box 58
Jef­fer­son City, MO 65102–0058
(573) 751‑4231 or (800) 775‑2667		2 years of the date of injury or 1 year from the last date of pay­ment, whichev­er is laterDoes­n’t apply to direct sell­ers, domes­tic ser­vants, farm labor­ers, inmates, owner/operators of leased trucks in inter­state com­merce, sports offi­cials or volunteers
Mon­tanaMont. Code Ann. §39–71-101, et.seqDepart­ment of Labor and IndustryDepart­ment of Labor and Indus­try
Employ­ment Rela­tions Divi­sion
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Claims Assis­tance Bureau
1805 Prospect Avenue
Hele­na, MT 59604
*mail­ing address:
P. O. Box 8011
Hele­na, MT 59604–8011
(406) 444‑6543		1 year of the date of injury; or 2 years if injured work­er estab­lish­es lack of knowl­edge of injury, latent injury, or equi­table estoppelDoesn’t apply to:Casual employ­ment. Cos­me­tol­o­gist or bar­bers. Depen­dent mem­ber of the employ­er’s fam­i­ly, Domes­tic ser­vants, Direct sell­ers, Free­lance pho­tog­ra­phers and authors, Jock­eys, Man­agers of a ditch com­pa­ny, News­pa­per deliv­er­ers, Ordained min­is­ters, Peo­ple work­ing sole­ly with­in the bound­aries of Indi­an reser­va­tions, Petro­le­um land work­ers, Real estate bro­kers or sales­men, Some offi­cials at ath­let­ic events, Some sole proprietors
Nebras­kaNebras­ka Revised Statutes §48–101 et. seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CourtWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Court
P. O. Box 98908
Lin­coln, NE 68509–8908
(402) 471‑6468 or (800) 599‑5155		2 years of the date of the acci­dent or the date of last pay­ment of compensationDoes­n’t apply to agri­cul­tur­al employ­ees, domes­tic ser­vants or rail­road employ­ees engaged in inter­state commerce
Neva­daNev. Rev. Stat. Chap­ters 616A-616D, Nev. Rev. Stat. Chap­ter 617Depart­ment of Busi­ness & IndustryDepart­ment of Busi­ness & Indus­try
Divi­sion of Indus­tri­al Rela­tions
400 W. King Street, Suite 400
Car­son City, NV 89703
(775) 684‑7260		Injured work­er must fill out Form C‑4, have the med­ical provider sign it 90 days from the date of injury or the date first noticed the onset of an occu­pa­tion­al diseaseDoes­n’t apply to casu­al employ­ees, direct sales­peo­ple, domes­tic work­ers, mem­bers of the cler­gy, musi­cians (who work for two con­sec­u­tive days or less), sports offi­cials paid nom­i­nal fees, the­atri­cal per­form­ers or vol­un­tary ski patrol
New Hamp­shireNew Hamp­shire Revised Statutes Anno­tat­ed 281‑AWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion DivisionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
Depart­ment of Labor
95 Pleas­ant Street
Con­cord, NH 03301
(603) 271‑3176 or (800) 272‑4353		2 years from the date of injury; in cas­es where an injury or ill­ness is not imme­di­ate­ly rec­og­nized, injured work­er must pro­vide notice the date he or she knows, or should have known, of the nature of the injuryDoes­n’t apply to direct sell­ers, rail­road employ­ees engaged in inter­state com­merce, real estate brokers/appraisers or agents or those pro­vid­ing ser­vices for res­i­den­tial place­ment of indi­vid­u­als with disabilities
New Jer­seyNew Jer­sey Statutes Anno­tat­ed 34:15–1 et seq.Depart­ment of Labor and Work­force DevelopmentDepart­ment of Labor and Work­force Devel­op­ment
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
P. O. Box 381
Tren­ton, NJ 08625–0381
(609) 292‑2515		2 years from the date of injury or last pay­ment of com­pen­sa­tion, whichev­er is laterDoes­n’t apply to casu­al work­ers, domes­tic work­ers, employ­ees who are will­ful­ly neg­li­gent, inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors or inmates
New Mex­i­coNew Mex­i­co Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Act, New Mex­i­co Statutes Anno­tat­ed §§52–1‑1, et seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion AdministrationWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Admin­is­tra­tion
2410 Cen­tre Avenue, SE
Albu­querque, NM 87106
*mail­ing address:
P. O. Box 27198
Albu­querque, NM 87125–7198
(505) 841‑6000 or (800) 255‑7965		1 year after employ­er’s insur­ance provider has start­ed (or failed) to pay youDoes­n’t apply to domes­tic ser­vants, farm employ­ees, real estate agents or those with waiv­er from the state
New YorkWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Law of the State of New YorkWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion BoardWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Board
328 State Street
Sch­enec­tady, NY 12305
*mail­ing address:
P.O. Box 5205
Bing­ham­ton, NY 13902–5205
(518) 462‑8880 or (877) 632‑4996		2 years from the date of injury or last pay­ment of com­pen­sa­tion, whichev­er is laterDoes­n’t apply to: Any­one engaged in yard work or house­hold chores or mak­ing repairs or paint­ing in and about a one-fam­i­ly own­er-occu­pied res­i­dence, Babysit­ters and minors over the age of 14 engaged in casu­al employ­ment for one fam­i­ly Cler­gy­men, Domes­tic employ­ees work­ing less than 40 hours per week, Employ­ees of munic­i­pal­i­ties and oth­er polit­i­cal sub­di­vi­sions who are not engaged in haz­ardous employ­ment, Long­shore­men and har­bor work­ers, Rail­road employ­ees, Uni­formed san­i­ta­tion work­ers, fire­fight­ers and police offi­cers in the employ­ment of the City of New York. Fail­ure to make work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion pay­ments can lead to felony charges
North Car­oli­naN.C. Gen. Stat. §97Indus­tri­al CommissionIndus­tri­al Com­mis­sion
430 N. Sal­is­bury Street
Raleigh, NC 27603
*mail­ing address:
1240 Mail Ser­vice Cen­ter
Raleigh, NC 27699–1240
(919) 807‑2501 or (800) 688‑8349		Form 18 must be filed with the state’s Indus­tri­al Com­mis­sion 2 years from the date of injuryDoes­n’t apply to casu­al employees
North Dako­taNorth Dako­ta Cen­tu­ry Code Title 65 (Chap­ters 65–01 through 65–10)Work­force Safe­ty and InsuranceWork­force Safe­ty and Insur­ance
1600 East Cen­tu­ry Avenue, Suite 1
Bis­mar­ck, ND 58503–0644
(701) 328‑3800 or (800) 777‑5033		1 year from the date of injury (date of injury is the first date a rea­son­able per­son knew or should have known that a work-relat­ed injury occurred)Does­n’t apply to any­one doing some­thing ille­gal, casu­al employ­ees, inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors, spouse or child under age 22 of the employ­er, mem­bers of boards of direc­tors, news­pa­per deliv­ery peo­ple or real estate bro­kers and sales­peo­ple
Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insur­ance must be bought from a state fund.
OhioOhio Revised Code §4121.01 et. seq.
Ohio Admin­is­tra­tive Code §4121–01 et. seq.		Bureau of Work­ers’ CompensationBureau of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
30 West Spring Street
Colum­bus, OH 43215–2256
(614) 728‑5416 or (800) 644‑6292		2 years from the date of injury; 2 years after the dis­abil­i­ty began or 6 months after the ill­ness was diag­nosed for an occu­pa­tion­al dis­ease claimNo exemp­tions, Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insur­ance must be bought from a state fund.
Okla­homaOkla. Stat. tit. 85, §§301–413Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CourtWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Court
1915 North Stiles Avenue, Suite 127
Okla­homa City, OK 73105
(405) 522‑8600 or (800) 522‑8210		2 years from the date of injury or death; 2 years from the date of pay­ment of any com­pen­sa­tion or wages in lieu of com­pen­sa­tion; or 2 years of autho­rized med­ical careDoes not apply to hor­ti­cul­ture work­ers not using motor­ized machines, any­one employed by an employ­er with less than five employ­ees who are all relat­ed, employ­ees of tax-exempt youth sports leagues, domes­tic ser­vants in a pri­vate home, real estate bro­kers, sole pro­pri­etors, vol­un­teers, own­er-oper­a­tors of trucks or work­ers who pro­vide med­ical care or social services
Ore­gonWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Law. Or. Rev. Stat. §656.001Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion DivisionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
350 Win­ter Street, NE
P.O. Box 14480
Salem, OR 97309–0405
(503) 947‑7585 or (800) 452‑0288		2 years from the date of injury, or 180 days from the date of a claim denialDoesn’t apply to casu­al employ­ees or inmates
Penn­syl­va­niaWork­er’s Com­pen­sa­tion Act of June 24, 1996, P.L. 350, No. 57Bureau of Work­ers’ CompensationBureau of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
Depart­ment of Labor and Indus­try
1171 S. Cameron Street, Rm. 324
Har­ris­burg, PA 17104–2501
(717) 783‑5421 or (800) 482‑2383		3 years from the date of injury; if ben­e­fits ter­mi­nat­ed, injured work­er has 3 years to seek rein­state­ment; 300 weeks from the date of last expo­sure for occu­pa­tion­al dis­ease claimsDoes­n’t cov­er casu­al employ­ees
Inten­tion­al non­com­pli­ance with work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion laws is a felony that can result in a sen­tence of up to sev­en years.
Rhode IslandR.I. Gen. Laws. 27–7.1–1, et. seq.;Depart­ment of Labor & TrainingDepart­ment of Labor & Train­ing
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
1511 Pon­ti­ac Ave.
Cranston, RI 02920–0942
(401) 462‑8100		2 years from the date of injury in most cas­es (statute allows for flex­i­bil­i­ty, depend­ing on the nature of the case)Does­n’t apply to casu­al employ­ees, farm­ers or farm labor­ers, nurs­ery work­ers, sales­per­sons includ­ing real estate bro­kers and sworn employ­ees of the state
South Car­oli­naS.C. Code Ann. §42–1‑110 et seq.Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
1333 Main Street, Suite 500
P. O. Box 1715
Colum­bia, SC 29202–1715
(803) 737‑5700		2 years of the date of the acci­dent; the date of the diag­no­sis (if an occu­pa­tion­al dis­ease claim); or the date the employ­ee dis­cov­ered, or could have rea­son­ably dis­cov­ered, the injury or illnessDoes­n’t apply to casu­al employees
South Dako­taSDCL Title 62Depart­ment of Labor and RegulationDepart­ment of Labor and Reg­u­la­tion
Divi­sion of Labor & Man­age­ment
123 W. Mis­souri Avenue
Pierre, SD 57501–2291
(605) 773‑3101		1 year from the date of the acci­dent; dead­line may be extend­ed if your employ­er has pro­vid­ed med­ical treat­ment for the injury or if you are able to keep workingDoes­n’t apply to domes­tic ser­vants work­ing less than 20 hours a week, farm work­ers, inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors or volunteers
Ten­nesseeT.C.A. §50–6‑101, et seq.Depart­ment of Labor and Work­force DevelopmentDepart­ment of Labor and Work­force Devel­op­ment
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
220 French Land­ing Dri­ve
Nashville, TN 37243–1002
(844) 224‑5818		Form C40B must be filed one year from the date of injuryDoes­n’t apply to some undoc­u­ment­ed workers
TexasTexas Labor Code Anno­tat­ed § 401.001 et. seqDepart­ment of InsuranceDepart­ment of Insur­ance
Divi­sion of Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion
7551 Metro Cen­ter Dri­ve, Ste. 100
Austin, TX 78744–1609
*mail­ing address:
P.O. Box 12050
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 804‑4000 or (800) 252‑7031		1 year from the date of injury; 1 year from the date the employ­ee knew, or should have known, about an occu­pa­tion­al illnessDoes­n’t apply to fed­er­al employ­ees or inde­pen­dent contractors
UtahUtah Code Anno­tat­ed §34A‑2–101, et seq.Labor Com­mis­sionLabor Com­mis­sion
Divi­sion of Indus­tri­al Acci­dents
160 East 300 South, 3rd Floor
Salt Lake City, UT 84114–6610
(801) 530‑6800 or (800) 530‑5090		1 year from the date of injuryDoes­n’t apply to real estate brokers
Ver­montVer­mont Statutes Anno­tat­ed title 21, § 601 et seq.Depart­ment of LaborDepart­ment of Labor
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
5 Green Moun­tain Dri­ve
P.O. Box 488
Mont­pe­lier, VT 05601–0488
(802) 828‑2286		6 months from the date of injury; work­er may pur­sue claim after 6‑month time lim­it with proof the employer/carrier had pri­or knowl­edge of the injuryDoes­n’t apply to assis­tant judges, casu­al employ­ees, those engaged in ama­teur sports, domes­tic work­ers, farm work­ers, ille­gal­ly hired minors, mem­bers of an employ­ers fam­i­ly who live in their home or sole pro­pri­etors or part­ners in an unin­cor­po­rat­ed business
Vir­giniaVir­ginia Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Act, Title 65.2 Code of Vir­ginia 1950Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion CommissionWork­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Com­mis­sion
333 E. Franklin Street
Rich­mond, VA 23219
(877) 664‑2566		2 years from the date of injury (no exten­sions offered if injury or ill­ness was dis­cov­ered after the claim deadline)Does­n’t apply to any­one whose employ­ment is not with­in the usu­al course of the employ­er’s business
Wash­ing­tonRCW 51.04.010 to 51.98.080Depart­ment of Labor and IndustriesDepart­ment of Labor and Indus­tries
Insur­ance Ser­vices Divi­sion
7273 Lin­der­son Way, SW
Tumwa­ter, WA 98501–5414
(360) 902‑5800 		1 year from the date of injuryExemp­tions include:Booth renters, Cer­tain work­ers for busi­ness­es reg­is­tered with­in the Reg­is­tra­tion of Con­trac­tors or licensed Elec­tri­cians and Elec­tri­cal Instal­la­tions, Chil­dren employed by par­ents on a fam­i­ly farm, Domes­tic work­ers, Employ­ees not engaged in the busi­ness they were hired for, Enter­tain­ers hired for spe­cif­ic per­for­mances, Gar­den­ers, Home main­te­nance work­ers, Insur­ance pro­duc­ers, Jock­eys, News­pa­per deliv­ery work­ers, Ser­vices per­formed for sus­te­nance or help, Sole pro­pri­etors or part­ners, Some offi­cers of cor­po­ra­tions, Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insur­ance must be bought from a state fund.
West Vir­giniaW. Va. Code §23–1‑1 et seq.Offices of the Insur­ance CommissionOffice of the Insur­ance Com­mis­sion
900 Penn­syl­va­nia Avenue
Charleston, WV 25302
*mail­ing address:
P.O. Box 50540
Charleston, WV 25305–0504
(304) 558‑3386 or (888) 879‑9842		6 months from the date of injury; 3 years from the last date the work­er was exposed to the haz­ard or the date the per­son should have rea­son­ably known they had an occu­pa­tion­al diseaseDoes­n’t apply to com­pa­nies with few­er than five employ­ees, church work­ers, casu­al employ­ees, domes­tic ser­vants, fed­er­al employ­ees, vol­un­teer police or res­cue or cer­tain employ­ees engaged in pro­fes­sion­al sports
Wis­con­sinWis. Stat. §102.01-.89 (2011)Depart­ment of Work­force DevelopmentDepart­ment of Work­force Devel­op­ment
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
201 East Wash­ing­ton Avenue, Room C100
Madi­son, WI 53703
*mail­ing address:
PO Box 7901
Madi­son, WI 53707–7901
608–266-1340		2 years from the date of injury; 12 years if the employ­er knew or should have known about the injury; no statute of lim­i­ta­tions for occu­pa­tion­al dis­ease and cer­tain trau­mat­ic injuriesDoesn’t apply to domes­tic ser­vants or most volunteers
WyomingWyoming Statutes §27–14-101, et seq.Depart­ment of Work­force ServicesDepart­ment of Work­force Ser­vices
Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion Divi­sion
5221 Yel­low­stone Road
Cheyenne, WY 82002
*mail­ing address:
P.O. Box 20207
Cheyenne, WY 82003
307–777-7441		1 year from the date of injury; 1 year after a diag­no­sis is first com­mu­ni­cat­ed to the employ­ee; or 3 years from the date of last expo­sure to the haz­ard (whichev­er occurs last)Doesn’t apply to: Casu­al employ­ees, Child­care work­ers employed by the state, Elect­ed offi­cials, Employ­ees in pri­vate homes, Fed­er­al gov­ern­ment employ­ees, Fos­ter par­ents, Inde­pen­dent con­trac­tors, Offi­cers of cor­po­ra­tions, Pro­fes­sion­al ath­letes, Sole pro­pri­etors, Vol­un­teers, Work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insur­ance must be bought from a state fund.

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