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

Tell your employer in writing within 30 days (the date of the injury or death). File your claim within 1 year.

Temporary total disability (TTD) indemnity benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $903 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 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 Louisiana, temporary total disability pays part of your lost wages while your work injury keeps you from working. Your employer or its workers' compensation insurer pays the benefits; the state office (OWCA) does not pay benefits, but its workers' compensation judges decide disputes at ten district offices.

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 Louisiana

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 Louisiana'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

Louisiana
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Louisiana

Tell your employer
30 days
File your claim
1 year
Waiting period

No weekly benefits are paid for the first week (7 calendar days) after the injury, unless your disability lasts two weeks or longer.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Louisiana

What it pays
Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum
$903 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027)
Minimum
$241 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027)
Minimum rule

If two-thirds of your wages is less than $241, you receive $241 a week. If your weekly wages are less than $241, you receive your actual weekly wages.

Applies to
Injuries on or after September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027 (the limits depend on the date of the accident and do not change later)

Law: La. R.S. 23:1021(13), 23:1202, 23:1221(1), (3)

Source: laworks.net

All the details →

Who is your doctor in Louisiana?

Who chooses
You choose

You have the right to choose one treating doctor in each field or specialty of medicine. Your employer may also send you to its doctor, but after the first visit you do not have to keep seeing that doctor unless you choose to. If you go to a doctor your employer did not send you to, that doctor counts as your choice in that specialty. A doctor who gave you only emergency treatment does not count as anyone's choice.

After your first choice, you need your employer's or insurer's consent to change to another doctor in the same specialty. You do not need approval to change to a doctor in a different specialty. If your employer denies your right to choose your first doctor, you can ask a workers' compensation judge for a fast hearing; the hearing is held 10 to 30 days after you file the motion. Non-emergency treatment over $750 must be approved in advance by the employer or insurer.

Law: La. R.S. 23:1121(B), (E); OWCA FAQ (pre-approval of non-emergency care over $750)

Source: laworks.net

Who is covered in Louisiana

Size of employer

Most employees in Louisiana are covered from their first day of work, whether full-time, part-time, seasonal or minors. Employers must carry workers' compensation insurance or be approved to self-insure.

Special rules
  • Household workers of a private homeowner and workers on a private unincorporated farm: Not covered when the worker's yearly net earnings are $1,000 or less and the total net earnings of all the farm's workers are $2,500 or less, and the work is not part of the householder's or farm's business.
Not covered
  • Certain household workers of a private home and certain workers on a private unincorporated farm (low-earnings limits)
  • Musicians and performers working under a performance contract
  • Licensed real estate brokers and salespeople (most)
  • Landmen working on mineral exploration, development, production or transportation
  • Crews of airplanes doing crop dusting or spraying
  • Unpaid officers and board members of certain nonprofit organizations, and public officials
  • Corporate officers, partners, LLC members with 10% or more ownership, and sole proprietors who elect in writing not to be covered
  • Most volunteers
  • Workers covered by federal laws, sometimes in addition to state law (Longshore Act, Jones Act, FELA railroad workers)
Contractors

A person who works for another in a business covered by the law is presumed to be an employee. Subcontractors and some independent contractors may count as employees if their work is part of the employer's trade or business or if they do mostly manual labor. A company that hires a contractor to do work that is part of its own business can be your 'statutory employer' and owe you benefits.

If your employer has no insurance

If your employer has no workers' compensation insurance, or makes you pay for its insurance, report it to the OWCA Fraud and Compliance section at 1-800-201-3362. You can still file a Disputed Claim for Compensation against your employer.

Source: Form 1008

Law: La. R.S. 23:1035, 23:1044, 23:1061

Source: laworks.net

If your claim is denied or delayed in Louisiana

First step

First contact your employer or its insurer. If you cannot solve the problem, either side can ask for a free mediation conference with an OWCA mediator (a licensed attorney), before or after a disputed claim is filed.

Form
Disputed Workers' Compensation Claim (Form LWC-WC 1008)

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Louisiana

An employer may not fire you, or refuse to hire you, because you made a workers' compensation claim. The law does not stop an employer from discharging an employee who, because of the injury, can no longer do the job.

The law
La. R.S. 23:1361
What you may get

A civil penalty equal to the pay you would have earned without the discrimination, up to one year's earnings, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. A person who brings a frivolous claim can be made to pay the other side's damages, fees and costs.

Where to file

File a lawsuit in state court (district court). These claims are not heard by the workers' compensation judges.

Law: La. R.S. 23:1361, 23:1310.3(F)

Source: legis.la.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Louisiana

You do not have to hire an attorney. An attorney's fee for an injured worker cannot be more than 20% of the amount recovered, plus expenses, and the fee must be approved by a workers' compensation judge. The fee can be taken from your weekly benefits.

Besides medical care and temporary total disability, Louisiana workers' compensation can pay supplemental earnings benefits if you return to work earning less than 90% of your old wage (up to 520 weeks), permanent total disability, permanent partial disability for listed injuries, vocational rehabilitation (retraining up to 26 weeks, which can be extended), a one-time $50,000 payment for listed catastrophic injuries, death benefits to dependents (or $75,000 to each parent if there are no dependents), burial expenses up to $8,500, and mileage to medical visits (76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026).

Free help in Louisiana

State agency

Louisiana Works, Office of Workers' Compensation Administration (OWCA)

Phone
1-800-201-2499
Address
1001 N. 23rd Street, P.O. Box 94040, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9040
Find an office

Free help

Good to know in Louisiana

  • The weekly maximum and minimum are set by the date of the accident and stay the same for the whole claim; they are not raised each year.
  • You cannot receive workers' compensation weekly benefits and unemployment benefits at the same time.
  • OWCA publishes the choice-of-physician notice in English and Spanish.

Changes in 2024–2026

The weekly limits rose to $903 maximum and $241 minimum for injuries from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027 (from $877 and $234 a year earlier). Mileage reimbursement is 76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026. Act 766 of 2026 rewrites the medical fee schedule rules, sends medical billing disputes to the OWCA medical services section, creates a statewide workers' compensation medical bill database, and requires electronic medical billing from July 1, 2027; OWCA is still writing the rules to carry it out.

Law: SB 408, signed June 3, 2026

Questions about workers' comp in Louisiana

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

Tell your employer about the injury within 30 days after it happens. The law says the notice should be in writing, give your name and address, say in plain words when, where, how and what the injury was, and be signed.

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

If you and your employer or insurer have not agreed on payments, you must file a Disputed Claim for Compensation with OWCA within 1 year after the accident.

How much does workers' comp pay in Louisiana?

Temporary total disability (TTD) indemnity benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $903 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027).

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

You have the right to choose one treating doctor in each field or specialty of medicine. Your employer may also send you to its doctor, but after the first visit you do not have to keep seeing that doctor unless you choose to.

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

An employer may not fire you, or refuse to hire you, because you made a workers' compensation claim. The law does not stop an employer from discharging an employee who, because of the injury, can no longer do the job.

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

First contact your employer or its insurer. If you cannot solve the problem, either side can ask for a free mediation conference with an OWCA mediator (a licensed attorney), before or after a disputed claim is filed.

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

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