2 Critical Deadlines to Meet If You’ve Been Hurt at Work in Florida
You’ve taken the first step toward your workplace injury recovery by getting medical care. Now, you may be wondering what you should do to protect your workers’ compensation claim and how long you have to take the required actions.
2 Important Florida Workers’ Comp Deadlines
As you begin the process of protecting your workers’ compensation benefits, it’s important to know that you typically have:
30 days to report your injury to your employer.
Florida law allows for a few exceptions to this general rule. Specifically, the 30-day reporting rule may be extended if your employer had actual knowledge of your injury, the cause of the injury couldn’t be identified without a medical opinion and you notified your employer within 30 days of receiving that medical opinion, your employer didn’t put you on notice of the 30 day reporting requirement by posting that requirement, or exceptional circumstances exist that justify your failure to report the injury.
Two years to file a petition for workers’ compensation benefits.
This deadline may also be extended in certain circumstances. For example, you may have additional time to file your petition if you were hurt while as a minor or while you were mentally incompetent.
Whether or not an exception applies, you must always report your injury and file your petition before the deadline approaches. If you miss one of these deadlines, you might not be able to receive any workers’ compensation benefits at all.
Call a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer as Soon as Possible
While Florida statutes provide a time by which you must notify your employer and file a workers’ compensation petition, Florida law doesn’t prevent you from contacting a workers’ compensation lawyer, notifying your employer, or filing a workers’ comp petition early.
Instead, there are benefits to contacting a workers’ comp attorney as soon as possible. Your lawyer can review your claim, can make sure your employer is notified, and file your workers’ compensation petition. The sooner all of this happens, the more available evidence there will be and the sooner you’ll receive benefits.
Have You Been Injured At Your Florida Job?
If you’ve been hurt on the job in Florida you need to speak with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call our Coral Springs office directly at 954.755.7803 to schedule your free consultation. We proudly serve Florida residents including all of Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County and all points in between.