Hurt at work in Idaho? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file
Tell your employer in writing within 60 days (the date of the accident, for an occupational disease, its first manifestation). File your claim within 1 year.
Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits (time-loss benefits) can pay 67% of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,021.50 a week in 2026.
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 Idaho, temporary total disability benefits pay part of your lost wages while your doctor says you cannot work because of a job-related injury or disease. Your employer's insurance company (surety) or self-insured employer pays benefits; the Industrial Commission oversees claims, offers mediation, and decides disputes after a hearing.
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 Idaho
Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent until you download, copy or print a document.
Deadline helper
Written notice to your employer
A letter that tells your employer, in writing, that you were hurt or made sick by your work.
Claim checklist: what to gather and do
A printable list of papers to keep and steps to take.
Deadlines in Idaho
- Tell your employer
- 60 days
- File your claim
- 1 year
- Waiting period
Income benefits are not paid for the first 5 days of disability.
Weekly benefit in Idaho
- What it pays
- 67% of your gross (before-tax) wages
- Maximum
- $1,021.50 a week in 2026
- Minimum
- $510.75 a week in 2026
- Minimum rule
If 67% of your average weekly wage is less than $510.75, you receive $510.75 or 90% of your average weekly wage, whichever is less, but never less than $170.25 a week (2026 injuries).
- Applies to
- Injuries in calendar year 2026
Law: Idaho Code §§ 72-408, 72-409, 72-419
Source: iic.idaho.gov
We do not offer a calculator for Idaho: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.
Who is your doctor in Idaho?
- Who chooses
- Your employer or its insurer chooses
Your employer may have a designated physician for treating all work injuries and diseases, except emergency care. Ask your employer before getting treatment. If your employer has designated a physician, you need your employer's approval, or approval from the Industrial Commission, before seeing another physician.
To change doctors, first give your employer or its insurer written notice of your request; the employer must answer in writing within 14 days. If it refuses, you can petition the Industrial Commission for a change of physician on reasonable grounds. The Commission holds an expedited hearing and decides within 14 days after the employer's response. Your doctor may still refer you to a specialist without the employer's permission.
Law: Idaho Code § 72-432(1), (3), (4)
Source: iic.idaho.gov
Who is covered in Idaho
- Size of employer
State law requires most employers to have workers' compensation insurance; only the few types of employment listed in the law are exempt. If your employer is required to have it, you are covered from your first day of work.
- Not covered
- Household domestic service
- Casual employment
- Outworkers
- Family members living in the household of a sole proprietor (or single-member LLC taxed as one)
- Sole proprietors, working partners and LLC members, and corporate officers who own at least 10% of the stock (with conditions)
- Associate real estate brokers and salespeople paid only by commission
- Volunteer ski patrollers and officials of secondary school athletic contests
- Employment covered by federal law, sometimes in addition to state law (for example federal employees, railroad workers and seamen)
- Contractors
An employer is liable for compensation to the employees of an uninsured contractor or subcontractor working under it, as if they were its own employees.
- If your employer has no insurance
If your employer should have had insurance but did not, call the Industrial Commission (1-800-950-2110) to confirm coverage, fill out a First Report of Injury or Illness and return it to the Commission's Boise office. The Commission notifies your employer of its duty to pay benefits and makes it get insurance. If an uninsured employer is found liable, you are awarded an extra 10% of your compensation, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees if you hired a lawyer.
Law: Idaho Code §§ 72-210, 72-212, 72-216
Source: legislature.idaho.gov
If your claim is denied or delayed in Idaho
- First step
Talk with your employer and its insurance company. If that does not solve it, call an Industrial Commission program analyst at 1-800-950-2110 and ask about free, voluntary mediation with a neutral Commission mediator.
Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Idaho
Attorney fees must be approved by the Industrial Commission. Under the Commission's rules, a fee of 25% of the benefits the attorney obtains is presumed reasonable when no hearing on the merits has been held, 30% after a hearing, and 15% of compensation paid for total permanent disability in some cases.
Idaho also pays temporary partial disability (67% of your lost earning capacity), permanent partial impairment and disability benefits, total and permanent disability benefits (partly from the Industrial Special Indemnity Fund when a prior condition contributed), free return-to-work help from Industrial Commission rehabilitation consultants, death benefits, and some medical travel costs.
Free help in Idaho
State agency
Idaho Industrial Commission (IIC)
- Phone
- 1-800-950-2110
- Address
- 11321 W. Chinden Blvd., Building 2, Boise, ID 83714
Free help
Good to know in Idaho
- Idaho's workers' compensation law does not require your employer to hold your job or rehire you after you recover (IIC injured worker information).
- There is no waiting period if you are hospitalized as an in-patient.
- The First Report of Injury and the mediation request form are available in Spanish (IIC forms).
Changes in 2024–2026
For injuries in 2026 the state average weekly wage used for benefits rose to $1,135 (from $1,073 in 2025), so the TTD maximum is $1,021.50 and the 45% minimum $510.75 (IIC benefits table). The Commission also re-adopted its workers' compensation rules in 2025 after a zero-based rulemaking review.
Law: IDAPA 17.01.01
Questions about workers' comp in Idaho
How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in Idaho?
Report your job-related injury or disease to your employer immediately. The law requires notice as soon as practicable but no later than 60 days after the accident.
How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in Idaho?
A claim for compensation must be made within 1 year after the accident. No separate claim is needed if the insurer has already paid compensation voluntarily or if a request for a hearing has been filed.
How much does workers' comp pay in Idaho?
Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits (time-loss benefits) can pay 67% of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,021.50 a week in 2026.
Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in Idaho?
Your employer may have a designated physician for treating all work injuries and diseases, except emergency care.
What if my workers' comp claim is denied in Idaho?
Talk with your employer and its insurance company. If that does not solve it, call an Industrial Commission program analyst at 1-800-950-2110 and ask about free, voluntary mediation with a neutral Commission mediator.
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
- IIC: Injured worker information
- IIC: File a claim
- IIC: Disputed claims
- IIC: Idaho workers' compensation benefits table 2026
- IIC: Find a form
- IIC: Verify an employer's coverage
- IIC: Información en español
- Idaho Code Title 72 (Idaho Legislature): §§ 72-210, 72-212, 72-216, 72-402, 72-408, 72-409, 72-432, 72-448, 72-601, 72-602, 72-701, 72-702, 72-704, 72-706, 72-718, 72-724, 72-803