Filing a Workers' Comp Claim in Maine

For injuries on or after January 1, 2020, the worker (or someone on the worker's behalf) must give the employer notice of the injury within 60 days. The notice should include the time, place, cause and nature of the injury and the worker's name and address. It can be given to the employer, a corporate official, a supervisor in charge of the work, an employee the employer has designated to receive accident reports, or on-site medical staff employed by the employer. Earlier injuries had different deadlines (30 days for injuries from 2013 through 2019; 90 days before 2013).

A petition to the Workers' Compensation Board is generally barred unless filed within 2 years after the date of injury, or the date the employer files a required First Report of Injury, whichever is later. If the employer or insurer has paid benefits within that period, the deadline becomes 6 years from the most recent payment. Time when the worker was physically or mentally unable to file does not count. If the worker dies from the injury, a petition must be filed within 1 year after death or 2 years from the injury, whichever is later, but no later than 6 years after the last payment.

Tell your employer about the injury. The employer must complete a First Report of Injury and give you a copy, and must either pay your lost-time claim within 14 days or send you and the Board a Notice of Controversy. If there is a dispute, a Board troubleshooter will contact you to try to resolve it; if not resolved, the case goes to mediation; if mediation fails, you may request a formal hearing. Any interested party may file a petition with the Board, served on the other parties by certified mail. Qualified injured workers can get free legal representation from the Board's Worker Advocate Program.

A disputed claim is decided by an administrative law judge after a formal hearing; the judge's findings of fact are final. A party may appeal a legal question to the Board's Appellate Division by filing a notice of intent to appeal within 20 days after receiving notice of the decision. A party may then seek review by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (Law Court) by filing a copy of the Appellate Division's decision with the Law Court clerk within 20 days after notice of it, followed within 20 days by a petition for appellate review; the Law Court decides whether to take the case.