If you have suffered a serious accident while at work, you may depend upon workers’ compensation benefits in order to make ends meet and take care of your medical bills and other living expenses while you recover. Thus, it’s essential that you follow Kentucky’s protocol for applying for benefits, so that you do not miss a deadline and lose the opportunity to apply for the benefits that you require.
Time limit for giving notice to employer
Unlike in many other states, Kentucky’s workers’ compensation statute does not impose an exact number of days in which an injured employee must report the injury to their employer. Rather, the statute requires that the employee report the accident as soon as practically possible. After that, you have two years from the date of your accident to file a claim for benefits.
Make sure that you inform your employer of your injury as soon as practically possible. If you wait too long, it’s possible that the workers’ compensation insurance company could use your delay as justification for denying your coverage.
Time limit for appeals
Sometimes, the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company will deny benefits to an injured worker. If this happens to you, you must file a Formal claim (Form 101) with the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims and your case will be assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for a Hearing. A Hearing is your chance to testify before the judge and explain why you should qualify for the benefits.
Within sixty days of the Hearing, the administrative law judge will issue an Opinion deciding whether you qualify for benefits or not. Once their Opinion is issued, you will have fourteen days to request a reconsideration of the Opinion. If no Petition for Reconsideration is filed, you have 30 days to file an Appeal. If you miss this deadline, the decision will be final. If a Petition for Reconsideration is filed, the Judge will issue an Order on Petition for Reconsideration. Then, the parties have 30 days from the Order on Petition for Reconsideration to decide if they wish to appeal.
The workers’ compensation process can be quite complex, with many deadlines and filing requirements to keep track of. Whether you use an attorney to help you through your filing process or not, you should be mindful of the deadlines so as not to lose the opportunity to receive the benefits that you need to recover from your accident.
