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

Tell your employer in writing within 90 days (the date of the accident). File your claim within 90 days.

Temporary disability (time-loss) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,943.41 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 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 Oregon, time-loss (temporary disability) payments replace part of your wages while your doctor says you cannot work, or can only do lighter work that pays less, because of a work injury. Your employer's insurer (or a self-insured employer) handles the claim; the Workers' Compensation Division oversees the system, and judges of the Workers' Compensation Board's Hearings Division decide disputes.

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 Oregon

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.

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

Oregon
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Oregon

Tell your employer
90 days
File your claim
90 days
Waiting period

Time-loss is not paid for the first 3 calendar days you miss work or lose wages because of the injury.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Oregon

What it pays
Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum
$1,943.41 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Minimum
$50 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

The minimum is $50 a week or 90% of your weekly wage, whichever is less. So if your weekly wage is under about $75, you receive 90% of it, but never more than $50 from this minimum rule.

Applies to
Injuries from July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2026, for time-loss due from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. Injuries on or after January 1, 2027, use a different formula.

Law: ORS 656.210(1)-(3), 656.211, 656.005(1); Or. Laws 2026, ch. 78 (SB 1519)

Source: wcd.oregon.gov

We do not offer a calculator for Oregon: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.

All the details →

Who is your doctor in Oregon?

Who chooses
You choose
Network
Managed care organization (MCO), if the insurer enrolls your claim

You can get treatment from a health care provider of your choice on the first claim, such as a medical doctor, osteopathic physician, chiropractic physician, naturopathic physician, podiatric physician, oral surgeon, physician associate or authorized nurse practitioner. Your employer cannot choose your health care provider for you. One attending physician is responsible for your care and for authorizing time off.

After your first choice of attending physician, you can change attending physicians two more times on your own. More changes need the insurer's approval; if the insurer says no, you can ask the Workers' Compensation Division. To change, fill out Form 827 at the new doctor's office. If the insurer enrolls your claim in a managed care organization (MCO), you generally must choose a doctor from the MCO panel, with some exceptions (for example, a provider you already have a relationship with may be able to keep treating you).

Law: ORS 656.245, 656.260

Source: wcd.oregon.gov

Who is covered in Oregon

Size of employer

Every employer with one or more workers in Oregon must have workers' compensation coverage (through SAIF, a private insurer, or approved self-insurance).

Special rules
  • Casual work: Casual work is not covered when it is outside the employer's business (or for a non-covered employer) and the total labor cost in any 30-day period is under $1,000 (adjusted each July 1).
Not covered
  • Domestic servants in a private home, including home health workers hired by private contract
  • Workers doing gardening, maintenance, repair or remodeling at the private home of the person who hired them
  • Casual work with low labor cost that is not part of the employer's business
  • Sole proprietors, most partners and LLC members, and corporate officers who are directors with a substantial ownership share (construction has special rules)
  • People working mainly for board and lodging for a religious, charitable or relief organization
  • Interstate transportation workers whose employer has no fixed place of business in Oregon
  • Firefighters and police in cities over 200,000 that have their own disability and retirement system
  • Workers covered by federal law, sometimes in addition to state law (federal employees, longshore, railroad, seamen)
Contractors

All workers are covered unless the law lists them as nonsubject. A sole proprietor, partnership, LLC or corporation working under contract must qualify as an independent contractor to be outside the system.

If your employer has no insurance

If your employer did not have required coverage, your injury is covered to the same extent as if it had. Tell the Workers' Compensation Division (800-452-0288); it refers the claim to an assigned claims agent that processes it like any other claim, and the Division recovers the costs from the employer.

Workers' Benefit Fund (noncomplying employer claims)

Check your employer's insurance

Law: ORS 656.023, 656.027, 656.052, 656.054

Source: wcd.oregon.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in Oregon

First step

Read the denial letter; it explains why and how to appeal. For free help asking for a hearing, call the Ombuds Office for Oregon Workers (800-927-1271).

Form
Request for Hearing (Workers' Compensation Board)

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Oregon

It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against you in hiring, keeping your job, or any term of employment because you applied for or asked about workers' compensation benefits, used the workers' compensation procedures, or testified in a workers' compensation case.

The law
ORS 659A.040
What you may get

Reinstatement or hiring, back pay (up to two years), compensatory damages or $200 (whichever is greater), punitive damages, and court costs and attorney fees to the winning side.

Where to file

File a complaint with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Civil Rights Division, or file a lawsuit in circuit court.

Deadline

File a BOLI complaint within 1 year after the discrimination. A lawsuit must be filed within 1 year after the discrimination unless a BOLI complaint was filed on time.

Law: ORS 659A.040, 659A.820(2), 659A.875(1), 659A.885

Source: oregon.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Oregon

You have the right to an attorney at no cost to you for attorney fees: workers' compensation attorneys work on a contingent fee, so you pay only if the attorney wins or settles your case, and fees are approved by the Board or paid by the insurer as the law provides.

Besides medical care and time-loss, Oregon workers' compensation can pay temporary partial disability for lighter work at lower pay, permanent partial and permanent total disability, vocational assistance (since July 1, 2024, also for workers not authorized to work in the U.S., limited to training), reemployment programs such as the Preferred Worker Program, and death benefits to survivors.

Free help in Oregon

State agency

Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Workers' Compensation Division (WCD)

Phone
1-800-452-0288
Address
350 Winter Street NE, P.O. Box 14480, Salem, OR 97309-0405
Find an office

Free help

Good to know in Oregon

  • Most employers with more than 20 workers must give an injured worker the old job or another suitable job back after release to work; you must ask for it within 7 days after the insurer's written notice of release.
  • The 'What happens if I'm hurt on the job?' guide (Publication 1138) is available in English, Spanish and Russian (WCD).
  • Time-loss benefits for older injuries are adjusted each July 1 by the change in the state average weekly wage (ORS 656.210(1); Bulletin 111).

Changes in 2024–2026

From July 1, 2024, insurers may pay time-loss after the first payment at least every 14 days or on the employer's payroll schedule, and vocational training assistance no longer requires authorization to work in the U.S. The state average weekly wage rose to $1,461.21 on July 1, 2026, making the time-loss maximum $1,943.41. SB 1519 (Oregon Laws 2026, chapter 78) changes temporary and permanent total disability for injuries on or after January 1, 2027: 75% of the part of the wage up to 75% of the state average weekly wage, plus 65% of the part above it, up to 133% of the state average weekly wage; WCD will revise Bulletin 111 before the end of 2026.

Law: OAR 436-060-0150; OAR 436-120

Questions about workers' comp in Oregon

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

Tell your employer about the injury right away, and no later than 90 days after the accident. The notice must be in writing and tell your employer when, where and how the injury happened; filling out the worker part of Form 801, 'Report of Job Injury or Illness', and giving it to your employer does this.

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

You start a claim by giving your employer the completed worker part of Form 801 within 90 days after the accident.

How much does workers' comp pay in Oregon?

Temporary disability (time-loss) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,943.41 a week (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027).

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

You can get treatment from a health care provider of your choice on the first claim, such as a medical doctor, osteopathic physician, chiropractic physician, naturopathic physician, podiatric physician, oral surgeon, physician associate or authorized nurse practitioner.

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

It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against you in hiring, keeping your job, or any term of employment because you applied for or asked about workers' compensation benefits, used the workers' compensation procedures, or testified in a workers' compensation case.

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

Read the denial letter; it explains why and how to appeal. For free help asking for a hearing, call the Ombuds Office for Oregon Workers (800-927-1271).

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