Hurt at work in Pennsylvania? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file
Tell your employer within 21 days. File your claim within 3 years (the date of injury, or, if compensation was paid, the date of the most recent payment).
Total disability (wage-loss) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,394 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 Pennsylvania, wage-loss benefits pay about two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you cannot work because of a work injury. Your employer's insurance company (or the State Workers' Insurance Fund, or a self-insured employer) handles the claim, and disputes are decided by a workers' compensation judge in the Workers' Compensation Office of Adjudication.
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 Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania
- Tell your employer
- 21 days
- File your claim
- 3 years
- Waiting period
Wage-loss benefits are not paid for the first 7 days of disability. The 7 days are calendar days, including weekends.
Weekly benefit in Pennsylvania
- What it pays
- Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
- Maximum
- $1,394 a week in 2026
- Minimum
- $697 a week in 2026
- Minimum rule
If your average weekly wage is $1,045.50 or less but more than $774.43, you receive $697.00 a week. If your average weekly wage is $774.43 or less, you receive 90% of your average weekly wage.
- Applies to
- Injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2026
Law: 77 P.S. §§ 511 (Act § 306(a)), 511.3 (Act § 306(a.3)), 582 (Act § 309), 25.2 (Act § 105.2)
Source: pa.gov
We do not offer a calculator for Pennsylvania: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.
Who is your doctor in Pennsylvania?
- Who chooses
- It depends: network and choice rules both apply
- Network
- Employer's posted list of at least six designated health care providers, if any
You may choose your own health care provider unless your employer has posted at the workplace a list of at least six physicians or other health care providers. If there is such a list, you must go to a provider on the list for your first treatment and keep treating with listed providers for 90 days after the first visit. You may see any provider on the list; your employer cannot send you to a specific one.
During the 90 days you may switch among providers on the posted list. After 90 days, or if there is no posted list or the list is improper, you may treat with any provider you choose, but you must tell your employer which provider you selected. If a listed provider recommends invasive surgery, you are entitled to a second opinion paid by the employer/insurer.
Law: 77 P.S. § 531(1) (Act § 306(f.1)(1))
Source: pa.gov
Who is covered in Pennsylvania
- Size of employer
Employers must provide workers' compensation coverage for all of their employees, including seasonal and part-time workers. Nonprofits, unincorporated businesses and employers with only one employee must comply.
- Not covered
- Volunteer workers (some may not be covered)
- Agricultural laborers (some may not be covered)
- Casual employees
- Domestic workers
- Employees granted a personal religious exemption from the Act
- Certain executive officers of corporations who elect exemption
- Federal civilian employees, railroad workers, longshore, shipyard and harbor workers are covered by federal programs, sometimes in addition to state law
- Contractors
Calling you an independent contractor does not make you one. In construction, the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act treats you as an employee unless you have a written contract, are free from the company's control and direction, and run your own independently established business. If you think you are misclassified, you can send the Department of Labor & Industry a Worker Misclassification Inquiry.
Law: Act 72
- If your employer has no insurance
If your employer has no insurance and is not self-insured, you may be able to get benefits from the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund. You must notify the Fund within 45 days after you learn that your employer was uninsured. A claim petition against the Fund (LIBC-550) can be filed no sooner than 21 days and no later than 180 days after that notice.
Source: Notice of Claim Against Uninsured Employer, LIBC-551
Law: 77 P.S. §§ 2701-2706 (Act §§ 1601-1606); LIBC-100
Source: pa.gov
If your claim is denied or delayed in Pennsylvania
- First step
Contact your employer or its insurer first. You can call the Bureau's Claims Information Helpline (1-800-482-2383) with questions. If the claim is still denied, file a Claim Petition (LIBC-362) with the Office of Adjudication.
Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Pennsylvania
You may represent yourself, but a non-attorney cannot represent you. A fee agreement with an attorney must be approved by a workers' compensation judge or the Appeal Board, and approved fees cannot exceed 20% of the amount awarded (or 20% of a compromise and release settlement).
Besides medical care and total disability, Pennsylvania pays partial disability (up to 500 weeks), specific loss benefits for losing the use of body parts or serious disfigurement of the head, face or neck, and death benefits to dependents.
Free help in Pennsylvania
State agency
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC)
- Phone
- 1-800-482-2383
- Address
- 651 Boas Street, 8th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17121-0750
Free help
Good to know in Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania has no statewide rule allowing you to pick your doctor before an injury; instead, if your employer posts a list of at least six providers, you must use the list for the first 90 days.
- There is no balance billing: a health care provider may not bill you for the difference between its charge and what the insurer paid under the fee schedule (LIBC-100).
- The rate for a 2026 injury stays based on the 2026 maximum for the life of the claim; the law does not give cost-of-living increases (LIBC-100).
Changes in 2024–2026
For injuries in 2026 the maximum rose to $1,394.00 a week. Act 121 of 2024 (Oct. 29, 2024) made post-traumatic stress injuries of first responders from a qualifying traumatic event compensable without a physical injury (claim within 3 years after diagnosis).
Law: Act § 308; Act 126 of 2024 (Oct. 29, 2024) added rules letting injured workers authorize direct deposit of payments
Questions about workers' comp in Pennsylvania
How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in Pennsylvania?
Report the injury to your employer or supervisor right away, and tell them the date and place it happened.
How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in Pennsylvania?
Your employer's insurer is supposed to start payments or deny the claim after you report the injury.
How much does workers' comp pay in Pennsylvania?
Total disability (wage-loss) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,394 a week in 2026.
Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in Pennsylvania?
You may choose your own health care provider unless your employer has posted at the workplace a list of at least six physicians or other health care providers.
What if my workers' comp claim is denied in Pennsylvania?
Contact your employer or its insurer first. You can call the Bureau's Claims Information Helpline (1-800-482-2383) with questions.
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: Workers' Compensation and the Injured Worker (LIBC-100, rev. 10-24)
- BWC: Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) and 2017-2026 rate schedules
- BWC: Workers' Compensation Claim (helpline)
- BWC: WCOA forms
- BWC: Publications
- Pennsylvania General Assembly: Workers' Compensation Act, 1915 Act 338 (official unconsolidated statute, PDF)