Tell your employer or direct supervisor about your on-the-job injury as soon as possible. When you are injured on the job, you should report your injury no less than 30 days after the date on which it occurred.
Ask your employer for Form 801, “Report of Job Injury or Illness.” Your employer is required to provide this to you within 5 days of being informed of your workplace injury. You can also obtain Form 801 by calling Oregon's Ombudsman office. It is wise to seek legal advice from an experienced Oregon workers’ compensation attorney prior to completing this accident form or being referred to a doctor for evaluation. Employers are notorious for referring injured workers to industrial accident or injury clinics that underestimate the seriousness of worker injuries and which provide extremely optimistic prognosis.
Ask your employer for the name and contact information for your workers’ compensation insurer.
Obtain medical treatment from a healthcare provider of your choice and explain that you were injured at work. Your employer does not have the right to select your healthcare provider for you.
Your healthcare provider should ask you to complete Oregon Form 827 entitled “Worker’s and Physician’s Report for Workers’ Compensation Claims.”
Keep copies of all forms and any medical treatment paperwork for your records.
Work Injury Attorneys in Oregon
The time period between when your employer is first informed of your accident and the date when workers’ compensation insurance companies decide to accept or reject your claim is called an interim period. During this period, the insurer will pay only for limited medical treatment.
The insurance company has 60 days to accept your claim. If your claim is accepted, then the insurer will send you a "Notice of Acceptance” listing the specific medical conditions that it has approved covering with workers’ compensation benefits. The insurance company only has to pay for medical treatment related to the accepted conditions listed on your "Notice of Acceptance". An accepted claim may be non-disabling or disabling. “on-disabling” means that a claim requires medical services only. It’s a claim where temporary disability is not due, and/or there is no reasonable expectation of disability.
“Disabling” status entitles a worker to receive temporary disability and requires that an insurer go through the formal closure process which awards permanent disability. Below are some benefits of an accepted workers’ compensation claim.
Lifetime medical benefits for accepted conditions.
Temporary disability payments when the attending physician takes a claimant off work.
Vocational retraining.
Permanent disability award.
Aggravation rights.
“Non-disabling” means that a claim requires medical services only. It’s a claim where temporary disability is not due, and/or there is no reasonable expectation disability.
“Disabling” status entitles a worker to receive temporary disability, and requires that an insurer go through the formal closure process which awards permanent disability.
Life of Worker’s Comp claim in Oregon
Injury occurs.
Claim filing.
Insurer accepts, or denies claim.
If accepted, the claim is processed based on the scope of the conditions indicated in the notice of acceptance.
Claimant receives medical treatment as directed by the attending physician.
Claimant is made medically stationary by the attending physician.
Insurer “closes” the claim. As part of this process, the percentage and monetary value of any permanent disability is established and paid.
Claimant has the right to claim an aggravation of the injury within five years of the date the claim was closed.
Call 503-461-1112 as soon as possible to schedule an appointment for a free consultation. Let’s get you on the path to a brighter future.
