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

Report the injury to your employer, or someone representing your employer, immediately. The law does not set a number of days for this first report. File your claim within 1 year.

Temporary total disability (total incapacity) benefits can pay 75% of your after-tax wages, up to $1,776 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 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 Connecticut, temporary total disability pays part of your lost wages while you cannot work at all because of a work injury. Your employer's insurance carrier pays the benefits; the Workers' Compensation Commission does not pay benefits, but its administrative law judges at eight district offices resolve disputes.

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 Connecticut

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.

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

Connecticut
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Connecticut

Tell your employer

Report the injury to your employer, or someone representing your employer, immediately. The law does not set a number of days for this first report.

File your claim
1 year
Waiting period

No compensation is paid unless the injury keeps you from earning full wages for more than 3 days.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Connecticut

What it pays
75% of your after-tax wages
Maximum
$1,776 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum
$355.20 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

The minimum is 20% of the maximum, but the minimum payment cannot be more than 75% of your average weekly wage.

Law: $355.20 a week

Applies to
Injuries from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 31-307(a), 31-309, 31-310

Source: portal.ct.gov

We do not offer a calculator for Connecticut: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.

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Who is your doctor in Connecticut?

Who chooses
It depends: network and choice rules both apply
Network
Approved employer medical care plan, if the employer has one

Your employer must provide initial medical treatment and may send you to a company clinic or designated provider. After that first visit, you choose your attending physician. If your employer has an approved medical care plan, you must choose a doctor in that plan (choosing a doctor outside the plan can lead to suspension of benefits); otherwise you may choose any provider licensed in Connecticut. If your employer fails to provide a doctor promptly, you may get one at the employer's expense.

You can change your attending physician by getting a referral from your current doctor, getting the insurer's (or self-insured employer's) approval, or writing to the administrative law judge at the district office with the old and new doctor's names, addresses and specialties and your reasons. Without one of these, you may have to pay for unauthorized treatment. In an approved medical care plan, the new doctor must also be in the plan.

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-294d(a)-(c), (f)

Source: portal.ct.gov

Who is covered in Connecticut

Size of employer

Every employer that uses the services of one or more employees for pay, including the state and public employers, is covered by the Workers' Compensation Act.

Special rules
  • Household workers in a private home: Not covered unless regularly employed by the owner or occupier more than 26 hours per week.
Not covered
  • Household workers in a private home who work 26 hours a week or less for the owner or occupier
  • Casual workers employed outside the employer's trade or business
  • Members of the employer's family living in the employer's home (unless included in the insurance payroll)
  • Corporate officers who elect in writing to be excluded
  • People who do piecework on premises the employer does not control
  • Certain non-residents injured in Connecticut whose work is mainly in another state
  • Federal employees, longshore and railroad workers covered by federal programs, sometimes in addition to state law
If your employer has no insurance

If a judge awards you compensation against an employer that had no insurance and the employer does not pay, the state's Second Injury Fund pays the award, including further related treatment. You still need to file a Form 30C and go through the WCC hearing process.

Second Injury Fund (State Treasurer)

Check your employer's insurance

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 31-275(9), (10), 31-355(b), (h)

Source: cga.ct.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in Connecticut

First step

If benefits are delayed or denied, call the WCC's Education Services and ask for an Education Coordinator for free help, and request a hearing with an administrative law judge using the Hearing Request form (attach medical reports and other evidence).

Form
Hearing Request form

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Connecticut

Your employer may not fire, discipline or discriminate against you because you filed a workers' compensation claim or used your rights under the law, and may not deliberately misinform you or talk you out of filing a claim.

The law
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-290a
What you may get

Reinstatement to your job, back wages, restored employee benefits and other damages; a court may also award punitive damages. If you win, you get reasonable attorney fees (and costs in court).

Where to file

Either a civil lawsuit in Superior Court for the judicial district where the employer has its principal office, or a complaint to the Chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission, which assigns an administrative law judge to hold a hearing.

Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-290a

Source: portal.ct.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Connecticut

You do not need an attorney, but you can bring one (or a union official) to hearings. All attorney fees for services in a workers' compensation case must be approved by the administrative law judge. If the insurer unreasonably contested or delayed your benefits, the judge can order it to pay a reasonable attorney fee.

Besides medical care and temporary total disability, Connecticut workers' compensation can pay temporary partial disability (maximum $1,175 a week for 2026-27 injuries), permanent partial disability for loss of use of body parts, wage-differential (308a) benefits, scar and disfigurement awards, vocational rehabilitation, cost-of-living increases for long-term total disability, and death benefits and burial expenses for dependents.

Free help in Connecticut

State agency

Connecticut Workers' Compensation Commission (WCC)

Phone
860-493-1500
Address
Office of the Chairperson, 21 Oak Street, 4th Floor, Hartford, CT 06106
Find an office

Free help

Good to know in Connecticut

  • If your employer neither pays nor contests within 28 days after receiving your Form 30C, your claim is conclusively presumed accepted.
  • Your employer must pay you full wages for the day you were injured.
  • The WCC information packet for injured workers is available in English and Spanish.

Changes in 2024–2026

For injuries from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, the maximum weekly benefit rose to $1,776 (state average weekly wage) and the minimum to $355.20; the partial-disability maximum is $1,175. Form 30C was revised June 14, 2024, and since October 1, 2025 forms can be filed with the WCC online.

Questions about workers' comp in Connecticut

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

You must file a written notice of claim within 1 year from the date of the accident. Form 30C is the official form.

How much does workers' comp pay in Connecticut?

Temporary total disability (total incapacity) benefits can pay 75% of your after-tax wages, up to $1,776 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027).

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

Your employer must provide initial medical treatment and may send you to a company clinic or designated provider.

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

Your employer may not fire, discipline or discriminate against you because you filed a workers' compensation claim or used your rights under the law, and may not deliberately misinform you or talk you out of filing a claim.

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

If benefits are delayed or denied, call the WCC's Education Services and ask for an Education Coordinator for free help, and request a hearing with an administrative law judge using the Hearing Request form (attach medical reports and other evidence).

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