Workers' comp deadlines in Ohio: tell your employer and file

Tell your employer in Ohio

Counted from

The date of the injury

In writing?

The law does not require writing

If you are late

There is no separate statutory bar for late notice to your employer, but your claim is barred if it is not filed with BWC or the Industrial Commission within 1 year after the injury.

Illness that develops over time

For an occupational disease, report it to your employer as soon as you learn it may be work-related, and file the claim within the time limits for occupational disease claims.

Tell your employer right away what happened and ask whether you need to fill out an internal accident report. Give the completed report to your employer and keep a copy. Ohio law does not set a separate number of days for telling your employer; the deadline that matters is the 1-year limit for filing your claim with BWC or the Industrial Commission.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.84

Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov

File your claim in Ohio

Time limit

1 year

Counted from

The date of the injury or death

What to file

First Report of an Injury, Occupational Disease or Death (FROI), filed with BWC online, by mail or fax, or by phone (or the claim may be filed by your doctor, your employer or your representative); written notice to BWC or the Industrial Commission of the specific body parts injured

Claim form

First Report of an Injury, Occupational Disease or Death (FROI)

Who files it

You (or your doctor, employer or authorized representative) file the FROI with BWC: online, by mail or fax, or by calling BWC at 1-800-644-6292. If your doctor files it, it goes to BWC or to your employer's managed care organization (MCO). Tell your employer if you file a claim. If your employer is self-insuring, see BWC's page on claims with self-insuring employers.

What your employer must do

Your employer must report workplace injuries to its MCO, investigate promptly, and tell BWC whether it certifies or rejects the claim.

When the insurer decides

Within 7 days after receiving a claim, BWC notifies you and your employer. BWC then issues a decision (a BWC Order) no later than 28 days after sending that notice. Either side can appeal the order to the Industrial Commission within 14 days after receiving it.

Illness that develops over time

For an occupational disease contracted on or after September 28, 2021, file within 1 year after the most recent of: the date you first learned from a medical diagnosis that the disease is work-related, the date you first got medical treatment for it, or the date you first quit work because of it; or within 6 months after a doctor diagnoses the disease as work-related, if that is later. For diseases before September 28, 2021, the period is 2 years.

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. You, your doctor, your employer or your authorized representative can file it. The claim is also kept alive within the year if your employer, knowing of the injury, paid you wages in place of compensation; if you work for a self-insuring employer, also if it gave you treatment by its own medical staff or paid compensation or medical bills.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.84, 4123.85

Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.511(A)-(B)

Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov

Waiting period and first payment in Ohio

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. If you are off more than 7 but less than 14 consecutive days, TT starts on day 8. The waiting days are calendar days.

Paid back for the waiting days

If you are totally disabled for 14 or more consecutive days because of the same injury, the first 7 days are paid too, whenever that happens during the claim.

First payment

BWC pays TT based on your doctor's Physician's Report of Work Ability (MEDCO-14) and a Request for Temporary Total Compensation (C-84). BWC pays electronically, to your own bank account by direct deposit or to a U.S. Bank debit card.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 4123.55

Source: info.bwc.ohio.gov

Deadline if you are punished for filing

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

Deadline helper

Count your dates with the deadline helper · Write the notice to your employer