If you work in South Carolina and have suffered a work injury, you might be concerned about what you need to do to ensure that you’re being taken care of and that you’re receiving the benefits you need for a safe and speedy recovery. Don’t panic! There are two important steps that you must follow:
- Report your injury to your employer.
The absolute first thing you need to do when hurt on the job is to inform your employer of the injury. The best policy is to make sure that there is physical documentation of your injury. File an accident report if you can. If your claim is related to an occupational disease be sure to keep evidence of doctors notes. You have 90 days from your accident or diagnosis to report your injury to your employer.
- File a claim.
The next step is to file a claim. You have two years to file a claim for workers’ compensation; however, we generally recommend filing sooner rather than later. You don’t want to find yourself coming up against deadlines. In the event of the death of the injured employee their dependents (or parents if there are no dependents) are responsible for filing the claim.
If you have any questions about filing a claim or reporting your injury, don’t hesitate to contact an attorney. Oxner + Permar has the experience to guide you and make sure that you are taking the right steps to receive your workers’ comp benefits.
