1. 21 Days to Accept
The Defendant/Employer has 21 days to accept or deny a Workers' Compensation Claim. If a Notice of Compensation Payable is not issued at the conclusion of 21 days, the case is assumed to be denied and no benefits will be paid. Unscrupulous employers have been known to avoid paying Workers' Compensation benefits by saying they were unsure as to whether the claim will be accepted or not. The employer must make a decision by the 21st day, after that day, the injured employee should understand that his or her claim is in denial status.
Example of Notice of Compensation Payable
2. 120 Days Notice
Employees are generally unaware that within 120 days of a work injury the employer must be notified of the injury. This notice does not involve filing a Workers' Compensation claim but is simply notifying a supervisor that an injury has occurred. If notice is not given to a supervisor within 120 days of the date of injury a claim may not be filed. (Note: This is different than the three year statute of limitation which is only applicable if notice was given within the 120 days.)
3. Special Termination Petitions
Where an employee is receiving Workers' Compensation benefits the defendant/employer may file a Special Termination Petition which is accompanied by a statement by a medical doctor that the injured worker has recovered from the work injury. With this statement of recovery, the Workers' Compensation Judge will schedule a hearing within 21 days and if the injured employee does not come to the hearing with a medical report indication that he or she continues to be disabled, benefits will be suspended from that date of the hearing until the case is completely litigated.
