Workers' comp deadlines in North Carolina: tell your employer and file

Tell your employer in North Carolina

Time limit

30 days

Counted from

The date of the accident (for an occupational disease, the date a doctor or other competent medical authority told you that you have the disease)

In writing?

Yes, in writing

If you are late

If written notice is not given within 30 days, no compensation is payable unless the Industrial Commission accepts a reasonable excuse and finds that your employer was not harmed by the delay. Benefits for the time before notice may also be lost unless your employer already knew about the accident or you could not give notice because of physical or mental incapacity.

Illness that develops over time

The same 30-day written notice rule applies to occupational diseases (except asbestosis, silicosis and lead poisoning). The 30 days start on the date a doctor or other competent medical authority told you that you have the disease.

Tell your employer about the accident right away, in writing. The law says written notice must be given immediately or as soon as practicable, and no later than 30 days after the accident. The notice should give your name and address, and the time, place, nature and cause of the accident and the injury, and you should sign it. You can hand it to your employer or send it by registered or certified mail. A copy of the Form 18 given to your employer within 30 days counts as written notice.

Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 97-22, 97-23, 97-58(b)

Source: ic.nc.gov

File your claim in North Carolina

Time limit

2 years

Counted from

The date of the accident; or, if only medical bills were paid and no other compensation, the last payment of medical compensation

What to file

Form 18, filed with the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Your employer's Form 19 report is not a claim for you.

Source: Notice of Accident to Employer and Claim of Employee; Form 18B for lung disease

Claim form

Notice of Accident to Employer and Claim of Employee, Representative, or Dependent (Form 18)

Who files it

You fill out and sign Form 18, keep one copy, send one copy to the Industrial Commission (by e-mail to forms@ic.nc.gov, by mail, or through the Commission's online filing portal), and give one copy to your employer. Filing Form 18 with the Commission within 2 years makes your legal claim; giving a copy to your employer within 30 days is your written notice.

What your employer must do

Your employer must keep a record of all work injuries. Within 5 days after learning of an injury that causes more than one day away from work or medical bills over $4,000, the employer must report it to the Industrial Commission on Form 19. The employer must give you a copy of the Form 19 (with 'Important Information for Employee' on the back) and a blank Form 18.

When the insurer decides

By the 14th day after the employer has written or actual notice of the injury, the employer or carrier must either start paying or send you and the Commission a written denial that explains why and tells you about your right to a hearing. If it is unsure, it may pay 'without prejudice' for up to 90 days (extensions of up to 30 more days are possible); if it does not deny within that time, it generally loses the right to contest the claim.

Illness that develops over time

For an occupational disease, the claim must be filed within 2 years after death, disability or disablement and after a doctor or other competent medical authority told you the disease is related to your work, whichever is later. Lung disease claims use Form 18B.

You must file your own claim with the Industrial Commission, usually on Form 18, within 2 years after the accident. If you were paid workers' compensation (other than medical) within 2 years, that also protects the claim. If only medical compensation was paid and the employer's liability was never set, you have 2 years from the last medical payment to file. Your employer's injury report does not count as your claim.

Source: Form 19

Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 97-24(a), 97-58(c)

Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 97-18(b)-(d), 97-92(a)

Source: ic.nc.gov

Waiting period and first payment in North Carolina

Waiting period

No wage benefits are paid for the first 7 calendar days of disability. Medical care is paid from the start. Your employer may let you use sick leave, vacation or employer disability pay for those 7 days.

Paid back for the waiting days

If your disability lasts more than 21 days, you are paid for the first 7 days too.

First payment

When the claim is accepted, the first payment is due on the 14th day after your employer had written or actual notice of the injury, and payments then come weekly unless the Commission orders otherwise. If a payment is not made within 14 days after it is due, 10% is added to it, unless the Commission excuses the delay.

How often you are paid

Weekly

Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 97-18(b), (e), (g), 97-28

Source: ic.nc.gov

Deadline if you are punished for filing

Within 180 days of the retaliation.

Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 95-241(a)(1)a., 95-242(a), 95-243

Deadline helper

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