Filing a Workers' Comp Claim in Maryland

Oral or written notice of an accidental injury must be given to the employer within 10 days after the injury (within 30 days after a work-related death). Written notice should give the worker's name and address and the time, place, nature and cause of the injury, and be signed. Failure to give notice bars the claim unless the Commission excuses it because there was a sufficient reason or the employer or insurer was not prejudiced. The Commission advises reporting any accident to the employer immediately.

For an accidental injury, the worker must file a claim application form (Employee Claim, Form C-1) with the Commission within 60 days after the injury. The Commission may excuse a late filing if the employer or insurer was not prejudiced or for another sufficient reason, but a claim not filed within 2 years after the injury is completely barred. For an occupational disease, the claim must be filed within 2 years (3 years for pulmonary dust disease) after disablement or death, or after the worker or dependents first actually knew the disablement was caused by the employment.

Report the injury to your employer, then file an Employee Claim (Form C-1) with the Workers' Compensation Commission online through the Commission's CompHub portal, or ask the Commission to mail you a paper form. If you were treated by a doctor you chose, the doctor's report is filed with the claim. After the claim is received, it gets a claim number and a 'consideration date' by which the employer or insurer must raise objections. If the claim is contested, or you are not receiving benefits you believe you are owed, a hearing before a Commissioner can be requested.

Contested claims are decided by a Commissioner after a hearing. Within 15 days after a decision, a party may ask the Commission for a rehearing, but only on grounds of legal error or newly discovered evidence. Any aggrieved party may appeal a Commission decision to the circuit court by filing a petition for judicial review within 30 days after the date the Commission mailed its order, and must mail copies to the Commission and every other party. If a rehearing motion was filed, the 30 days start from the mailing of the Commission's ruling on it.

Injured workers file an Employee Claim Form C-1 with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission, online through the Commission's CompHub or on paper; the Commission says a completed claim takes about 2 business days to process. Employers file the Employer's First Report of Injury online through the Commission's web forms. The Commission gives general information but not legal advice: General Information / automated claim information line (410) 864-5100; 10 East Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21202, Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Parties have 30 days from the mailing of an order to appeal.