Hurt at work in Alabama? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file

Tell your employer in writing within 5 days (the date of the accident). File your claim within 2 years.

Temporary total disability (TTD) compensation can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,219 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

Your employer's insurer, not the state, usually decides first. If they deny or delay, the free help listed here can explain your options.

In Alabama, temporary total disability pays part of your wages while your work injury keeps you from working. Your employer or its insurance carrier pays it; if there is a dispute, the Workers' Compensation Division's ombudsmen can mediate, but only a circuit court judge can decide the claim.

What are my deadlines?How much will I get?Who is my doctor?Claim denied?

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Deadlines are strict. If you are near one, call the state agency or free help today.

Free tools for Alabama

Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent until you download, copy or print a document.

Deadline helper

Worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.

If you are not sure of the exact day, use the earliest day you think it could be.

Enter the date of injury

We add the number from the law to your date. Nothing is saved.

Benefit estimate calculator

This estimate uses the rule in Alabama's data: a share of your average weekly wage, up to the state maximum.

Worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.

Gross pay per week, as the insurer would figure it. Include regular overtime and tips if they were part of your pay.

Enter your pay

We apply the rule in the law. Nothing is saved.

Written notice to your employer

A letter that tells your employer, in writing, that you were hurt or made sick by your work.

Where the reply should be sent.

Required when you mail it. Not needed if you hand it in person.

In your own words, in English. Keep it short and factual. Do not guess why it happened.

It goes into the letter as you type it.

Other formats

Claim checklist: what to gather and do

A printable list of papers to keep and steps to take.

What you already have

Alabama
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Alabama

Tell your employer
5 days
File your claim
2 years
Waiting period

No compensation is paid for the first 3 days of disability. Compensation begins on the fourth day after disability.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Alabama

What it pays
Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum
$1,219 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Minimum
$335 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

If two-thirds of your average weekly earnings is less than $335, you receive $335 a week. If your average weekly earnings were less than $335, you receive 100% of your average weekly earnings.

Applies to
Injuries occurring on and after July 1, 2026 (the limits in effect on the date of the accident apply for the whole claim)

Law: Ala. Code §§ 25-5-57(a)(1), 25-5-68

Source: workforce.alabama.gov

All the details →

Who is your doctor in Alabama?

Who chooses
Your employer or its insurer chooses

Your employer (or its carrier) selects the authorized treating physician at the time of the injury and directs your care. Except in an emergency, ask your supervisor or employer which doctor to see. If the authorized doctor refers you to another doctor, the employer must approve that doctor.

If you are dissatisfied with the first treating physician and more treatment is needed, tell your employer; you are entitled to pick a second physician from a panel or list of four physicians chosen by your employer (not all from the same practice). The same one-time choice from a list of four applies if you are dissatisfied with the surgeon. The employer does not have to pay for treatment you get without justification or notice to the employer.

Law: Ala. Code § 25-5-77(a), (g); Ala. Admin. Code 480-5-5-.12

Source: workforce.alabama.gov

Who is covered in Alabama

Size of employer

Employers who regularly employ 5 or more employees (full-time or part-time, including corporate officers and LLC members) in any one business must have workers' compensation coverage.

Special rules
  • Construction of new single-family detached homes: Businesses that build, or help on-site to build, new single-family detached homes must have coverage even with fewer than 5 employees.
  • Public employers: Counties, school boards and municipalities with more than 2,000 people are covered; municipalities under 2,000 are not required to be. Cities of 250,000 or more (except their schools) are outside the law. Federal and State of Alabama government employees are not covered by this law.
Not covered
  • Employers with fewer than 5 regular employees (except home builders of new single-family houses)
  • Domestic employees
  • Farm laborers
  • Casual employees whose work is not in the usual course of the employer's business
  • Municipalities with fewer than 2,000 people
  • Owner-operators and leased operators of interstate common carriers
  • Corporate officers and LLC members who file a written election to be exempt
  • Federal and State of Alabama government employees (covered by other programs)
Contractors

Every employer and employee is presumed to be covered unless the law says otherwise. Employers that are not required to carry coverage may choose to accept the law by filing written notice with the Department of Workforce.

If your employer has no insurance

An employer that is required to have coverage but does not is liable for two times the compensation that would otherwise be payable, and can be fined. Alabama has no state fund that pays benefits for uninsured employers; you would file a verified complaint in circuit court against the employer. Call the Workers' Compensation Division at 1-800-528-5166 for information.

Law: Ala. Code §§ 25-5-8(e), 25-5-13, 25-5-50, 25-5-54

Source: workforce.alabama.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in Alabama

First step

If the carrier denies your claim, call the Workers' Compensation Division at 1-800-528-5166 and ask to speak to an examiner or an ombudsman. Ombudsmen offer free mediation (a benefit review conference) if both you and your employer agree to take part.

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Alabama

Your employer may not fire you solely because you started or kept up an action against the employer to recover workers' compensation benefits, or solely because you filed a written notice of a safety-rule violation.

The law
Ala. Code § 25-5-11.1
What you may get

You can sue for wrongful termination in court; the statute does not list the damages.

Where to file

State circuit court (a lawsuit).

Law: Ala. Code § 25-5-11.1

Source: alison.legislature.state.al.us

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Alabama

You may hire an attorney to handle your claim in court. The circuit judge must approve the attorney and sets the fee and how it is paid; the fee cannot be more than 15% of the compensation awarded or paid.

Besides medical care and temporary total disability, Alabama workers' compensation can pay temporary partial disability (two-thirds of lost earnings, up to 300 weeks), permanent partial disability (300 weeks for the body as a whole, with a lower weekly cap of $220 or the state average wage, whichever is less), permanent total disability, vocational rehabilitation, death benefits to dependents (up to 500 weeks; $7,500 to the estate if there are no dependents), burial expenses up to $6,500, and mileage to medical visits.

Free help in Alabama

State agency

Alabama Department of Workforce, Workers' Compensation Division

Phone
1-800-528-5166
Address
50 North Ripley Street, Montgomery, AL 36130

Free help

Good to know in Alabama

  • The weekly maximum equals 100% of the state average weekly wage and the minimum 27 1/2% of it, rounded to the nearest dollar; the limits in effect on the date of the accident apply for the whole claim.
  • The carrier does not have to warn you before it stops temporary total disability payments.
  • Benefits can be denied if you refuse a drug or alcohol test after the injury.

Changes in 2024–2026

On February 1, 2025, the Alabama Department of Labor officially became the Alabama Department of Workforce under the Alabama Workforce Transformation Act of 2024 (new website workforce.alabama.gov; address 50 North Ripley Street, Montgomery). Weekly limits for injuries: $1,130 / $311 from July 1, 2024; $1,172 / $322 from July 1, 2025; $1,219 / $335 from July 1, 2026.

Questions about workers' comp in Alabama

How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in Alabama?

Report any injury to your supervisor or employer right away. The law requires written notice of the accident to your employer within 5 days after it happens.

How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in Alabama?

You make a claim by notifying your employer of the accident and injury and asking your employer for benefits.

How much does workers' comp pay in Alabama?

Temporary total disability (TTD) compensation can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,219 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in Alabama?

Your employer (or its carrier) selects the authorized treating physician at the time of the injury and directs your care.

Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in Alabama?

Your employer may not fire you solely because you started or kept up an action against the employer to recover workers' compensation benefits, or solely because you filed a written notice of a safety-rule violation.

What if my workers' comp claim is denied in Alabama?

If the carrier denies your claim, call the Workers' Compensation Division at 1-800-528-5166 and ask to speak to an examiner or an ombudsman.

Not about a work injury?

Not about a work injury? Unpaid wages → Wage Claim Map · Hurt in a car crash → Accident Claim Map · A medical bill → Medical Bill Map · Unemployment benefits → Unemployment Claim Map · Other problems → robinclaim.com

Nearby states

Sources