If the employee does not give notice within 14, 30 or 180 days (six months) after the injury, then the workers’ compensation may be delayed until notice is given. Failure to give notice within 180 days of an injury may be a total and complete bar to any workers’ compensation benefits.
If you have a repetitive or overuse injury, special rules apply for the time deadline to report the injury. Overuse injuries are different from “specific” injuries, like falling off a ladder, because a specific injury happens at a precise time on a specific date. The time and date of an overuse injury can be difficult to pin down. In most cases the overuse injury becomes a problem gradually, not at a specific time or on a specific date. Over time the symptoms from a repetitive or overuse injury become worse and worse. In many cases the date of repetitive or overuse injury is the date that a doctor takes the worker off work to allow time to heal and prevent further injury.
