Important Deadlines In Workers’ Compensation Cases

Pennsylvania employees are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for their work injuries. For 110 years, Powell Law attorneys past and present have represented injured workers. The filing of a workers’ compensation claim requires an awareness of many strict deadlines. All parties involved in, and affected by, a workers’ compensation claim must remember the following important target dates:

Employees are required to report a work injury to their employer within 21 days of its occurrence. Specifically, an employee must give notice to management. If a work injury is not reported within 120 days of its occurrence, the claim is time-barred under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. This means the clock resets and a new statute of limitations period begins. This deadline applies to claims alleging physical injury, psychological injury, or occupational disease.

A 3-year statute of limitations applies to the filing of a claim seeking workers’ compensation benefits on the basis of an alleged  work injury. If workers’ compensation benefits are terminated by agreement or decision, an injured employee has a 3-year statute of limitations to seek reinstatement of benefits, and to strike their effective termination. The statute of limitations for an occupational disease claim is 300 weeks from the date of last exposure.

Within 21 days from the date an employee provides notification of an injury to an employer, one of the following four events must generally occur.

1. The employer/carrier denies liability and issues a Notice of Workers’ Compensation Denial to the employee. Although the claim is now closed, an injured worker may seek legal advice to pursue a claim through litigation.
2. The employer/ carrier extends the period for investigating the work injury and pays temporary compensation. In this situation, it issues a Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable to extend the investigation period to 90 days before accepting or denying full liability for the worker’s injury. When the employer elects to stop paying the injured worker temporary compensation, it completes a Notice Stopping Temporary Compensation. The employer must then issue either a Notice of Workers’ Compensation Denial or Notice of Compensation Payable or Agreement for Compensation to the injured worker within the 90-day temporary window.
3. The employer/carrier issues a Notice of Compensation Payable to the injured worker.
4. The employer/carrier accepts liability for the injury and issues an Agreement for Compensation to the injured worker.

Powell Law’s decades of experience make it the clear and obvious choice for representation in workers’ compensation matters in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. Consult an experienced Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorney. Contact Powell Law at (570) 961-0777. The consultation is FREE!