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

Tell your employer within 30 days. File your claim within 1 year.

Temporary income benefits are 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and what you earn after the injury. Pay is up to $1,314 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 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 Texas, temporary income benefits replace part of the wages you lose while a work injury keeps you from earning your usual pay. Your employer's insurance carrier pays benefits, and the Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) helps settle disputes through benefit review conferences and contested case hearings.

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 Texas

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

Texas
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Texas

Tell your employer
30 days
File your claim
1 year
Waiting period

Income benefits are not paid for an injury that keeps you from earning your wages for less than one week.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Texas

Maximum
$1,314 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum
$197 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

The weekly benefit cannot be less than the minimum in effect on your injury date: $197 a week for injuries from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 ($191 for injuries from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026).

Applies to
Injuries from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 (Texas fiscal year 2027)

Temporary income benefits are 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and what you earn after the injury.

Law: Tex. Lab. Code §§ 408.041, 408.061, 408.062, 408.101-408.103

Source: tdi.texas.gov

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

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Who is your doctor in Texas?

Who chooses
You choose
Network
Certified workers' compensation health care network (if your employer's coverage uses one)

You choose your treating doctor. If your employer gets coverage through a certified workers' compensation health care network, you must choose a doctor from the network's list (your employer can give it to you). If you are not in a network, you can choose any doctor who is willing to treat workers' compensation patients and is not barred by DWC. If you worked for a city, county, school district or other political subdivision, follow its rules for choosing a doctor.

In a network: you may change treating doctors once without network approval; after that, the network may have to approve a change. Not in a network: you must get DWC approval first by sending DWC Form-053, Employee's Request to Change Treating Doctor. A change cannot be made just to get a new impairment rating or medical report.

Law: Tex. Lab. Code § 408.022; Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1305

Source: tdi.texas.gov

Who is covered in Texas

Size of employer

Most private employers in Texas may choose whether to carry workers' compensation insurance. Employers that carry it are called subscribers; employers that do not are called non-subscribers. Every Texas public employer (state agencies, cities, counties, school districts) must provide coverage. Your employer must tell you when you are hired, and post a notice, saying whether it has coverage.

Special rules
  • Public employers (state, cities, counties, school districts, public utilities): All Texas governmental entities must provide workers' compensation coverage.
  • Contractors on public building or construction projects: A government entity that signs a building or construction contract must require the contractor and each subcontractor to certify that they provide workers' compensation coverage for every employee on the project.
Not covered
  • Employees of a private employer that chose not to carry workers' compensation insurance (non-subscriber)
  • Domestic workers, and casual workers doing work incidental to a personal residence, unless the employer chose to cover them
  • Most farm and ranch employees, unless the employer chose to cover them
  • Workers covered by a federal compensation program (federal employees, longshore workers, railroad workers, seamen)
Contractors

Under the Texas law for building and construction work, an independent contractor is someone paid by the job (not by the hour), free to hire and pay helpers, and free to work for other contractors. A hiring contractor generally does not have to cover independent contractors, but the two can agree in writing that the hiring contractor will provide coverage.

Immigrant workers

Texas law says a resident or nonresident alien employee is entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

If your employer has no insurance

If your employer is a non-subscriber, you cannot get workers' compensation benefits from DWC, but you may sue your employer in court for a work injury caused by the employer's negligence. In that lawsuit the employer cannot argue that you were partly at fault, that you assumed the risk, or that a co-worker was at fault. A waiver of these rights signed before the injury is void.

Check your employer's insurance

Law: Tex. Lab. Code §§ 406.002, 406.005, 406.033, 406.091, 406.092, 406.096, 406.141, 406.144

Source: tdi.texas.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in Texas

First step

Call the insurance adjuster about the problem; then call DWC customer service (800-252-7031). If you do not have an attorney, the Office of Injured Employee Counsel (OIEC) can give you a free ombudsman (866-393-6432).

Form
DWC Form-045, Request to Schedule, Reschedule, or Cancel a Benefit Review Conference (BRC)

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Texas

An employer may not fire you or discriminate against you in any other way because you filed a workers' compensation claim in good faith, hired a lawyer for your claim, started a workers' compensation proceeding in good faith, or testified or are about to testify in one.

The law
Texas Labor Code Chapter 451
What you may get

Reasonable damages caused by the violation, and if you were fired, reinstatement to your former job. A district court can also order the employer to stop the violation.

Where to file

File a lawsuit in state district court.

Law: Tex. Lab. Code §§ 451.001-451.003

Source: tcss.legis.texas.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Texas

Your attorney's fee must be approved by DWC or the court and is paid out of your benefits. DWC says an attorney can charge at most $200 an hour plus expenses, and no more than 25% of your benefits may be taken out for attorney's fees.

Besides medical care and temporary income benefits, Texas can pay impairment income benefits (IIBs), supplemental income benefits (SIBs), lifetime income benefits (LIBs), death benefits to eligible family members, and burial benefits.

Free help in Texas

State agency

Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC)

Phone
1-800-252-7031
Address
Division of Workers' Compensation, PO Box 12050, Austin, TX 78711
Find an office

Free help

Good to know in Texas

  • Unlike most states, Texas lets most private employers choose whether to carry workers' compensation insurance; employers must tell employees and DWC whether they have it.
  • You must file DWC Form-041 with DWC within 1 year even if the carrier is already paying you.
  • Income benefits can be paid by check, by direct deposit if you expect at least 8 weeks of benefits, or by an access card only if you agree in writing (DWC).

Changes in 2024–2026

For injuries from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 the TIBs maximum is $1,314 and the minimum $197 a week (from $1,271 and $191 for October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, and $1,219 and $183 for fiscal 2025).

Questions about workers' comp in Texas

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

Tell your employer about the injury within 30 days. You can tell your employer or any supervisor or manager.

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

Telling your employer is not enough. You must also send a completed DWC Form-041 to DWC within 1 year after the injury, even if you are already getting benefits.

How much does workers' comp pay in Texas?

Temporary income benefits are 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and what you earn after the injury. Pay is up to $1,314 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027).

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

You choose your treating doctor. If your employer gets coverage through a certified workers' compensation health care network, you must choose a doctor from the network's list (your employer can give it to you).

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

An employer may not fire you or discriminate against you in any other way because you filed a workers' compensation claim in good faith, hired a lawyer for your claim, started a workers' compensation proceeding in good faith, or testified or are about to testify in one.

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

Call the insurance adjuster about the problem; then call DWC customer service (800-252-7031). If you do not have an attorney, the Office of Injured Employee Counsel (OIEC) can give you a free ombudsman (866-393-6432).

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