Colorado Workers' Compensation: Deadlines, Benefits and How to File

Every private employer with one or more persons in service under a contract of hire is covered, as are the state and all local governments regardless of size. The law does not apply to employers of casual farm and ranch labor, or of casual maintenance, repair, yard or similar workers, if they have no other covered employees and spend no more than $2,000 a year on those wages. It also does not apply to private-home employers of domestic, maintenance or yard workers who have no other covered employees, unless the worker is employed full time (40 or more hours or 5 or more days a week). Excluded employers may choose to buy coverage.

An injured employee must notify the employer in writing within ten days after the injury. If the employee fails to report in writing, the employee may lose up to one day's compensation for each day's failure to report. The deadline is paused if the employer did not post the required workers' compensation notice or did not give the employee a copy of the written notice, and actual notice by the employer or good cause can excuse a late report.

The right to compensation is barred unless a written notice claiming compensation is filed with the Division within two years after the injury or death. The limit does not apply if compensation has already been paid, or if the Director finds within three years that there was a reasonable excuse for the delay and the employer was not harmed by it. Payment of medical bills alone does not count as compensation. Longer rules apply to certain occupational diseases (such as radiation exposure, asbestosis and silicosis).

If the disability lasts three days or less from the day the employee leaves work because of the injury, no wage benefits are paid (only medical benefits). If the disability lasts longer than two weeks, wage benefits are paid back to the day the employee left work.

Temporary total disability lasting more than three regular working days pays 66 2/3% of the employee's average weekly wage for as long as the disability is total, up to a maximum of 91% of the state average weekly wage. Benefits are reduced by a portion of any federal Social Security disability benefits.

The employer or insurer must give the injured worker a list of at least four physicians or corporate medical providers (with at least one at a separate location without common ownership, where available), and the worker selects the treating physician from that list. If the employer does not offer a physician at the time of injury, the worker may choose a physician or chiropractor. The worker may make a one-time change to another physician on the employer's list by giving written notice on the Division's form within 90 days after the injury and before reaching maximum medical improvement.

Scheduled injuries (loss or loss of use of listed body parts, such as 208 weeks for an arm at the shoulder or 104 weeks for a hand below the wrist) are paid for the number of weeks in the statutory schedule. Other (whole-person) impairments are paid by multiplying the medical impairment rating by an age factor and by 400 weeks, at the temporary total disability rate; up to $10,000 of an award can be taken as a lump sum on written request. Permanent total disability pays 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage, up to the weekly maximum, until death.

Wholly dependent survivors receive 66 2/3% of the deceased worker's average weekly wage, up to 91% of the state average weekly wage and at least 25% of that maximum per week; benefits to partial dependents are set by the Director. Funeral and burial expenses are paid in one lump sum within 30 days after death, up to a statutory amount ($12,500 in the statute) that the Director adjusts each July 1. If there are no dependents, benefits are limited to medical and funeral costs and disability benefits already owed.

Give your employer written notice of the injury within ten days. The employer must report the injury to the Division and its insurer within ten days. To protect your right to benefits, file a written notice claiming compensation (a worker's claim) with the Division within two years; any party may also file the claim on the worker's behalf.

Disputes are heard by administrative law judges of the Office of Administrative Courts (or by the Division Director); mediation and settlement conferences are also available. A party dissatisfied with an order on compensability, benefits or penalties may file a petition to review within 20 days after the date of the certificate of mailing of the order; otherwise the order becomes final. Petitions on ALJ orders are filed at the Denver office of the Office of Administrative Courts.

Colorado does not set a fixed number of weeks for temporary benefits. Temporary total disability continues until the first of these: the worker reaches maximum medical improvement, returns to regular or modified work, gets a written release to return to regular work, or is released to modified work that is offered in writing and does not start it. Temporary partial disability ends at maximum medical improvement or if the worker fails to start an offered modified job. Instead of a week limit, the law caps the combined total of temporary and permanent partial disability payments by dollar amount, with a higher cap for impairment ratings above 19 percent; for claims arising on or after January 1, 2025 the caps are $185,000 and $300,000, adjusted each July 1. Permanent total disability continues until the worker's death.

An injured worker may settle all or part of a claim for compensation, benefits, penalties or interest. The settlement must be in writing, signed by the employer or insurer, and signed and sworn to by the worker. It must be reviewed in person with the worker and approved in writing by an administrative law judge or the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation before it is final, and it is filed with the Division. If the settlement says the claim will not be reopened, it can be reopened only for fraud or a mutual mistake of material fact. A lump sum is due within 15 calendar days after the insurer or employer receives the signed settlement order.

In Colorado the employer must give notice of a compensable injury to the Division of Workers' Compensation and its insurance carrier (unless self-insured) within ten days after the injury; if the employer does not, anyone may give the notice. The worker's right to compensation is barred unless a notice claiming compensation is filed with the Division within two years after the injury (with limited exceptions, including when compensation has been paid or a reasonable excuse is shown within three years). Notices are made in writing on forms prescribed by the Division.

Colorado workers' comp attorneys must give clients a written fee agreement. In unappealed contested cases, a contingent fee above 25% of the contested benefits is presumed unreasonable, and no contingent fee may be applied to previously incurred medical benefits in a permanent disability award. At the request of the worker or the attorney, the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation decides which benefits were contested and whether the fee is reasonable (request within 180 days after the final order); the Director may allow more than 25% if an appeal was perfected or the attorney devoted an extraordinary amount of time.

Suing the employer: a Colorado employer that has complied with the workers' comp act, including its insurance provisions, and its insurer are not subject to any other liability for an employee's work injury or death, and all other causes of action and remedies are abolished except as the act provides. If the employer has not complied, the employer loses the defenses of assumption of risk, fellow-servant negligence and the employee's non-willful negligence in a damages suit.

Suing someone else: a worker injured by the negligence of someone not in the same employ may take workers' comp and also sue that person. Paying comp assigns the claim to the insurer to the extent of comp it owes, and the insurer is subrogated for economic and impairment/disfigurement damages (not pain and suffering), reduced by the worker's reasonable attorney fees and costs unless the insurer pursues the claim itself or intervenes within 90 days of notice. The worker must give written notice within ten days to the Division of Workers' Compensation and the parties responsible for benefits when making a demand on the third party, and a settlement for less than the comp benefits needs the insurer's written approval.

Employer without coverage: if an employer required to carry workers' comp was uninsured at the time of injury, the worker (or dependents) may still claim compensation and benefits. The judge must order the employer to pay the present value of unpaid benefits to a trustee or post a bond within ten days, the award can be filed as a district court judgment, and an employer that fails to comply owes an extra 50% or $1,000 (whichever is greater) plus attorney fees. The uninsured employer must also pay 25% of the benefits to the Colorado Uninsured Employer Fund, and it may not continue business operations while in default.

Disputed claims: a notice claiming compensation must be filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation within two years after the injury (three years with a reasonable excuse), and the director and administrative law judges hear disputes. A party dissatisfied with an order that decides compensability or denies a benefit must file a petition to review within 20 days after the date of the certificate of mailing of the order (with the Office of Administrative Courts in Denver for an ALJ order), or the order becomes final; the matter then goes to the Industrial Claim Appeals Office panel. A party dissatisfied with the panel's final order may bring an action in the Colorado Court of Appeals.