If you are injured while working in Alabama, report the accident to your employer immediately and ask for workers’ compensation medical treatment. Tell your supervisor, manager, or the person responsible for handling workers’ compensation claims that you were injured while performing your job.
Prompt notice allows your employer to investigate the accident, report the claim, and arrange authorized medical care. It also helps protect your right to workers’ compensation benefits, including medical treatment and disability payments.
Alabama law generally requires written notice of a workplace accident within five days. However, the employer’s actual knowledge of the accident may satisfy the notice requirement. In all cases, notice should be provided no later than 90 days after the accident. Failure to provide timely notice may result in the loss of workers’ compensation benefits.
Although verbal notice may be sufficient, written notice is safer. Send an email, text message, accident report, or other written communication identifying:
- When and where the accident occurred;
- How the accident happened;
- What part of your body was injured; and
- That you are requesting medical treatment under workers’ compensation.
Keep a copy of the notice and any response from your employer.