Hurt at work in North Dakota? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file
Tell your employer within 7 days (the date of the accident, or the date the general nature of your injury became apparent). File your claim within 1 year.
Wage-loss benefits are two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) average weekly wage, between a minimum of $775 and a maximum of $1,614 a week for disability beginning on or after July 1, 2026, but never more than your weekly wage after Social Security and federal income tax.
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 North Dakota, wage-loss benefits pay part of your wages while your medical provider keeps you off work because of a work injury. Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI), the state agency that is the only workers' compensation insurer in North Dakota, decides and pays claims; disputes go to an administrative law judge.
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 North Dakota
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.
Note naming your own doctor in advance
This state lets some workers name a personal doctor before an injury. Use the official form first if the state has one.
Deadlines in North Dakota
- Tell your employer
- 7 days
- File your claim
- 1 year
- Waiting period
Wage-loss benefits are not paid for a disability that lasts less than 5 consecutive calendar days.
Weekly benefit in North Dakota
- Maximum
- $1,614 a week (on or after July 1, 2026)
- Minimum
- $775 a week (on or after July 1, 2026)
- Minimum rule
The minimum is $775 a week (60% of the state average weekly wage) for disability beginning on or after July 1, 2026, but your benefit plus any dependency allowance can never be more than your weekly wage after Social Security and federal income tax are taken out.
- Applies to
- Disability first beginning on or after July 1, 2026 (rates in effect on the date of first disability)
Wage-loss benefits are two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) average weekly wage, between a minimum of $775 and a maximum of $1,614 a week for disability beginning on or after July 1, 2026, but never more than your weekly wage after Social Security and federal income tax.
Law: N.D.C.C. §§ 65-05-09, 65-05-09.1
Source: workforcesafety.com
We do not offer a calculator for North Dakota: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.
Who is your doctor in North Dakota?
- Who chooses
- It depends: network and choice rules both apply
- Network
- Designated Medical Provider (preferred provider) chosen by the employer, if any
- Naming your own doctor first
If your employer has a Designated Medical Provider, you may choose to be treated by a different provider if you make that choice and notify your employer in writing before you are injured.
Ask your employer whether it has a Designated Medical Provider (DMP). If it does, for the first 30 days after the injury you must be treated by the DMP (or a provider the DMP refers you to); treatment elsewhere is not paid. Emergency care is covered anywhere. If your employer has no DMP, you may treat with the medical provider of your choice.
After 30 days, you may ask WSI in writing to change providers, giving your reasons and your choice, and serve the request on your employer and WSI at least 30 days before treatment. Your employer may object within 5 days, and WSI rules within 15 days after the response period ends; if WSI does not rule, the request is approved.
Law: N.D.C.C. §§ 65-05-28.1, 65-05-28.2
Source: workforcesafety.com
Who is covered in North Dakota
- Size of employer
With limited exceptions, every North Dakota employer must insure all employees, including full-time, part-time, seasonal and occasional workers, with WSI before they start work. WSI is the only workers' compensation insurer in the state; private insurers may not sell it.
- Special rules
- Agricultural and domestic service: Agricultural and domestic service are not 'hazardous employment' under the law, so coverage is not required for them.
- Not covered
- Agricultural or domestic service
- Casual work that is not part of the employer's business
- The employer's spouse, and the employer's children under 22
- Licensed real estate agents paid by commission under a written independent-contractor agreement
- Newspaper carriers paid by sales under a written independent-contractor agreement
- Corporate board members who do no other work for the corporation
- Clergy and employees of religious organizations who run the place of worship
- Athletes in contact sports
- Employers themselves (owners, partners, corporate officers and LLC managers) unless they buy optional coverage
- Railroad workers and other groups covered by federal programs, sometimes in addition to state law
- Contractors
Anyone who performs services for pay is presumed to be an employee unless it is proven that the person is an independent contractor under the common-law test. The person claiming independent-contractor status must prove it. A worker of a subcontractor or independent contractor is treated as an employee of the general contractor for coverage purposes if the subcontractor is uninsured.
- If your employer has no insurance
If your employer did not have WSI coverage, the employer can be held liable for the cost of your claim, and you may sue the uninsured employer for damages caused by the injury. WSI can fine uninsured employers and order them to stop operating.
Law: N.D.C.C. §§ 65-01-02(17), (21), 65-01-03, 65-04-26.2, 65-04-33
Source: workforcesafety.com
If your claim is denied or delayed in North Dakota
- First step
If WSI denies your claim in a notice of decision, send WSI a written request for reconsideration within 45 days, saying why you disagree and what you want.
Fired or punished for filing in North Dakota
Your employer may not willfully fire you, or willfully threaten to fire you, for seeking WSI benefits or saying you intend to. WSI also says it is against the law for an employer to harass, discharge, refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate against you for using your workers' compensation rights.
- The law
- N.D.C.C. § 65-05-37
- What you may get
The employer is liable for your damages, including reasonable attorney's fees, and the damages are not reduced by your WSI benefits. A willful violation is a class A misdemeanor.
- Where to file
File a civil lawsuit in state court. You can also report the conduct to the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights for review.
Law: N.D.C.C. § 65-05-37
Source: workforcesafety.com
Lawyers' fees and other benefits in North Dakota
You do not need an attorney to use the Decision Review Office. If you consult an attorney about a WSI order, WSI pays up to $500 for the consultation. If you win additional benefits in a hearing, binding dispute resolution or court, WSI pays your attorney's fees and costs up to limits set by law (generally no more than 20% of the amount awarded, subject to a cap).
WSI also pays medical care, temporary partial disability (up to 5 years), permanent total disability, permanent partial impairment awards, return-to-work and vocational services, personal expense reimbursement (such as travel to treatment), and death benefits.
Free help in North Dakota
State agency
North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance
- Phone
- 1-800-777-5033
- Address
- 1600 E Century Ave, Ste 1, Bismarck, ND 58503 (mail: PO Box 5585, Bismarck, ND 58506-5585)
Free help
Good to know in North Dakota
- North Dakota is a monopolistic state-fund state: WSI is the only workers' compensation insurer, and private insurers cannot sell it there (WSI).
- Wage-loss benefits are not taxable and cannot be garnished by ordinary creditors, but they are reduced by 50% of any Social Security disability you receive (WSI).
- Full-time paid firefighters and law enforcement officers are presumed to have suffered certain lung, heart, hypertension, blood-borne pathogen and (for firefighters) cancer conditions in the line of duty.
Changes in 2024–2026
Weekly benefit levels change each July 1: for disability beginning on or after July 1, 2026 the maximum is $1,614 and the minimum $775 (state average weekly wage $1,291); from July 1, 2025 they were $1,569 and $753, and from July 1, 2024 $1,514 and $727 (WSI benefit levels table).
Questions about workers' comp in North Dakota
How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in North Dakota?
Tell your immediate supervisor (or another supervisor allowed to receive notice) right away that the accident happened and what the injury is.
How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in North Dakota?
All original claims must be filed with WSI within 1 year after the injury, or within 2 years after a death.
How much does workers' comp pay in North Dakota?
Wage-loss benefits are two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) average weekly wage, between a minimum of $775 and a maximum of $1,614 a week for disability beginning on or after July 1, 2026, but never more than your weekly wage after Social Security and federal income tax.
Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in North Dakota?
Ask your employer whether it has a Designated Medical Provider (DMP). If it does, for the first 30 days after the injury you must be treated by the DMP (or a provider the DMP refers you to); treatment elsewhere is not paid.
Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in North Dakota?
Your employer may not willfully fire you, or willfully threaten to fire you, for seeking WSI benefits or saying you intend to.
What if my workers' comp claim is denied in North Dakota?
If WSI denies your claim in a notice of decision, send WSI a written request for reconsideration within 45 days, saying why you disagree and what you want.
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
- WSI: Reporting an Injury
- WSI: The Claims Process
- WSI: Wage-loss Benefits
- WSI: North Dakota Weekly Benefit Levels
- WSI: Appeal an Order (Decision Review Office)
- WSI: Common Questions (employees)
- WSI: Coverage Requirements
- WSI: Failure to Secure Coverage
- WSI: Contact
- N.D. Century Code chapter 65-01 (definitions, procedure)
- N.D. Century Code chapter 65-02 (Decision Review Office, attorney fees)
- N.D. Century Code chapter 65-05 (claims and benefits)