What to do after getting hurt at work.
Workers' comp benefits are not automatic. Notice deadlines are short, and the wrong steps in the first 24 hours can cost you medical care, wage replacement, and the entire claim.
Notice deadlines are tighter than you think.
Missouri requires written notice to the employer within 30 days. Illinois requires notice within 45 days. Verbal notice may not be enough. Email or text creates a record.
Right after the injury
The first hour.
- 01
Get medical care if you need it
If it's an emergency, go to the ER. Don't worry about who's paying yet. Workers' comp is supposed to cover work-related ER care, and we sort out billing later.
- 02
Tell your supervisor immediately
Even if you think the injury is minor. Verbal first if needed, but follow up by email or text the same day so there's a written record.
- 03
Document what happened
Time, location, what you were doing, what equipment was involved, any witnesses. If there was machinery or a defective tool, photograph it before it's repaired or replaced.
- 04
Don't sign anything except a basic injury report
Refuse to sign a release of claims, a medical authorization beyond the basic injury, or a statement about who was at fault. The injury report itself is required; the rest is not.
First 7 days
Lock in the claim.
- 01
Submit written notice to your employer
Missouri: within 30 days. Illinois: within 45 days. Email is fine. State the date, location, body part injured, and how it happened. Keep a copy.
- 02
Follow the employer's medical-care rules
Missouri: the employer chooses your doctor. Illinois: you generally pick from a panel. Going to the wrong doctor can give the carrier grounds to deny treatment.
- 03
Keep all medical paperwork
Discharge instructions, work-restriction notes, prescriptions, billing summaries. The work-restriction notes are especially important. They trigger wage-replacement benefits.
- 04
Don't return to work against medical advice
If your doctor has put you on restrictions, follow them. Working in violation of restrictions is grounds to suspend wage benefits and can hurt the case overall.
First 30 days
Decisions that shape the claim.
- 01
Get an attorney before signing any settlement
Workers' comp insurers offer 'closure' settlements early. Many of them waive future medical care for life. Read everything; sign nothing without legal review.
- 02
Check for third-party claims
If a non-employer (subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, driver who hit you while on the job) contributed to the injury, there's often a separate personal injury claim that can recover much more than workers' comp alone.
- 03
Save everything that documents your work and injury
Time cards, pay stubs, accident reports, communications about return-to-work, light-duty assignments. All of it goes into the file.
- 04
Watch for retaliation
Demotion, schedule reduction, suddenly being written up after years of clean reviews. Retaliation for filing a comp claim is illegal in both states.
Five things never to do.
- · Wait to report the injury 'because it might get better.' Late reporting is the most common reason claims get denied.
- · Sign a workers' comp settlement (especially one that waives future medical) without an attorney.
- · Return to work against your doctor's restrictions to avoid an awkward conversation with your employer.
- · Skip medical appointments. Gaps in treatment are exactly what insurers use to argue you're not really injured.
- · Assume your supervisor or HR is on your side. They're employees of the employer, not your advocate.
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