Hurt at work in Ohio? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file
Tell your employer right away what happened and ask whether you need to fill out an internal accident report. File your claim within 1 year (the date of the injury or death).
For the first 12 weeks, TT pays 72% of your full weekly wage (based on your earnings in the 6 weeks and/or 7 days before the injury), but not more than your net take-home weekly pay. Pay is up to $1,281 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 Ohio, temporary total compensation pays part of your lost wages while your doctor says you cannot work because of a work injury. Most employers are insured through the state fund, so the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) decides and pays your claim; large self-insuring employers pay claims themselves.
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 Ohio
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 Ohio
- Tell your employer
Tell your employer right away what happened and ask whether you need to fill out an internal accident report.
- File your claim
- 1 year
- Waiting period
TT compensation is not paid for the first 7 days of disability unless you are unable to work for 14 or more consecutive days.
Weekly benefit in Ohio
- Maximum
- $1,281 a week in 2026
- Minimum
- $427 a week in 2026
- Minimum rule
The minimum TT payment for 2026 injuries is $427 a week. If your wage is lower than the minimum, BWC pays your full wage instead.
- Applies to
- Injuries in 2026 (the maximum is the statewide average weekly wage for the year of injury)
For the first 12 weeks, TT pays 72% of your full weekly wage (based on your earnings in the 6 weeks and/or 7 days before the injury), but not more than your net take-home weekly pay.
Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.56(A), 4123.61, 4123.62
Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov
We do not offer a calculator for Ohio: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.
Who is your doctor in Ohio?
- Who chooses
- You choose
- Network
- BWC-certified providers; medical care is managed by your employer's managed care organization (MCO)
You can see any doctor for the first visit, including your own doctor or a hospital. After that, you choose your own physician of record, who must be certified by BWC. Even if your employer suggests a doctor, you have the right to see any BWC-certified provider.
To switch doctors, fill out the Notice to Change Physician of Record (C-23) and send it to your MCO (or to your employer if it is self-insuring). Except for an emergency or the first visit, you may have to pay your own bills if you see a doctor who is not BWC-certified.
Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4121.44, 4121.441
Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov
Who is covered in Ohio
- Size of employer
Ohio law requires every employer with one or more employees to have workers' compensation coverage, either through the BWC state fund or by being approved to self-insure. Every Ohio employer is either a state-fund employer (it pays premiums to BWC, and BWC pays the benefits) or a self-insuring employer (it pays benefits directly).
- Special rules
- Household workers: Covered if they earn $160 or more in cash in a calendar quarter from a single household.
- Casual workers: Covered if they earn $160 or more in cash in a calendar quarter from a single employer.
- Not covered
- Household and casual workers who earn less than $160 in cash in a calendar quarter from one household or employer
- Ordained or licensed ministers in the exercise of ministry
- Officers of a family farm corporation and individuals incorporated as a corporation, unless they elect coverage
- Volunteer officers of nonprofit corporations
- Sole proprietors and partners, unless they elect coverage
- Workers covered by an exclusive federal program (for example federal employees, railroad workers and seamen)
- Contractors
Ohio law has a specific test for deciding whether a person who works in construction is an employee or an independent contractor; the facts of the work relationship decide, not the label.
- Immigrant workers
Ohio's law defines an employee to include 'aliens and minors' working under a contract of hire.
- If your employer has no insurance
If your employer did not have the required coverage, you can still file your claim with BWC or the Industrial Commission. BWC decides it like any other claim and pays an award from the state's surplus fund, then tries to recover the money from the employer. You may also be able to sue the employer in court.
Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.01(A)-(B), 4123.35, 4123.75, 4123.77
Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov
If your claim is denied or delayed in Ohio
- First step
If you disagree with a BWC Order, file an appeal with the Industrial Commission within 14 days after you receive it, on Form IC-12, online through the Industrial Commission Online Network (ICON), or by a signed written notice.
Fired or punished for filing in Ohio
Your employer may not fire, demote, reassign or take any punitive action against you because you filed a workers' compensation claim, or started, pursued or testified in a workers' compensation proceeding, for an injury or disease that happened at work for that employer.
- The law
- Ohio Rev. Code 4123.90
- What you may get
If you were fired: reinstatement with back pay. If you were demoted, reassigned or punished: lost wages. Both are reduced by later earnings and certain benefits, and you can get reasonable attorney fees.
- Where to file
Court of common pleas of the county where you worked.
- Deadline
Your employer must receive written notice of the claimed violation within 90 days after the firing or other action, and the lawsuit must be filed within 180 days after it.
Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.90
Source: codes.ohio.gov
Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Ohio
Legal representation is not required for Industrial Commission hearings. You can represent yourself or hire a lawyer at your own expense.
Besides medical care and TT compensation, Ohio can pay wage loss, percentage permanent partial (%PP), scheduled loss, permanent total disability, living maintenance during rehabilitation, facial disfigurement, travel reimbursement, and death benefits to dependents.
Free help in Ohio
State agency
- Phone
- 1-800-644-6292
- Address
- 30 W. Spring St., Columbus, OH 43215-2256
Free help
Good to know in Ohio
- Ohio employers get coverage from the state through BWC (state-fund employers) or are approved to self-insure; if you don't know which kind your employer is, ask your employer (BWC).
- Workers are not responsible for paying for the first doctor visit, even with a non-certified provider, or for emergency care (BWC, Getting medical care).
- Whenever the Industrial Commission grants an injured worker's appeal, compensation is paid after the order is issued, even if the other side appeals (Ohio Industrial Commission, Appeals process).
Changes in 2024–2026
For 2026 injuries the TT maximum is $1,281 a week and the minimum $427. Senate Bill 196 (135th General Assembly, effective March 20, 2025) lets certified nurse-midwives, clinical nurse specialists and certified nurse practitioners, as well as physicians, provide the medical reports and diagnoses used in claims, including those supporting temporary total compensation. For occupational diseases contracted on or after September 28, 2021, the filing period is 1 year instead of 2.
Law: 2025: $1,231 and $410.33
Questions about workers' comp in Ohio
How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in Ohio?
You must file a claim to get workers' compensation benefits. A claim for an injury must be filed with BWC or the Industrial Commission within 1 year after the injury, and it must name the specific part or parts of the body injured.
How much does workers' comp pay in Ohio?
For the first 12 weeks, TT pays 72% of your full weekly wage (based on your earnings in the 6 weeks and/or 7 days before the injury), but not more than your net take-home weekly pay. Pay is up to $1,281 a week in 2026.
Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in Ohio?
You can see any doctor for the first visit, including your own doctor or a hospital. After that, you choose your own physician of record, who must be certified by BWC. Even if your employer suggests a doctor, you have the right to see any BWC-certified provider.
Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in Ohio?
Your employer may not fire, demote, reassign or take any punitive action against you because you filed a workers' compensation claim, or started, pursued or testified in a workers' compensation proceeding, for an injury or disease that happened at work for that employer.
What if my workers' comp claim is denied in Ohio?
If you disagree with a BWC Order, file an appeal with the Industrial Commission within 14 days after you receive it, on Form IC-12, online through the Industrial Commission Online Network (ICON), or by a signed written notice.
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
- BWC: Filing a claim
- BWC: Getting a claim decision
- BWC: Appealing a claim decision
- BWC: What is workers' compensation
- BWC: Temporary total (TT) compensation benefit
- BWC: How benefits work
- BWC: Choosing a medical provider
- BWC: Appealing treatment decisions
- BWC: Injured worker rights
- BWC: Ombuds Office
- BWC: Compensation Rates 2011 to 2026
- Ohio Industrial Commission: Appeals process
- Ohio Revised Code 4123.01, 4123.55, 4123.56, 4123.75, 4123.84, 4123.90, 4123.511, 4123.512 (codes.ohio.gov)