The Ohio Filing Requirements for Workman's Compensation
The Ohio workers' compensation system has been in place since 1912. The Bureau of Workers' Compensation is responsible for regulating the workers' compensation laws and ensuring employers comply with the state's laws. All employers must purchase insurance for their employees through the Ohio state fund or obtain self-insured status. Self-insured employers pay workers' compensation benefits directly to their injured workers.
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Ohio Workers' Compensation Law
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Injured employees or employees who develop occupational diseases can receive medical treatment, lost wages and death benefits if their injuries lead to death. Wage compensation benefits begin if injured workers miss more than eight days of work. In addition to the mandatory waiting period, injured employees must also comply with the legal time limits in which to seek treatment, notify their employees or insurance carriers of their illnesses and file claims.
Initial Treatment
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Injured employees who seek treatment without notifying their employers should do so as soon as possible. Ohio requires treating physicians to report injuries to managed care organizations within 24 hours of treating injured workers. When employees receive benefits for at least 90 days, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation requires them to obtain a physician's evaluation of their progress and determine whether they are able to return to work. The Bureau of Workers' Compensation contacts employees within one-week of their claims' filing if they miss more than eight days of work.
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Receiving Benefits
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Once employees miss more than eight days of work, then they qualify for temporary total compensation benefits, and the state will reimburse them for the first eight days of noncoverage if they miss more than 14 consecutive days of work. Benefit amounts depend on the medical evidence provided by the attending physician's "Request for Temporary Total Compensation." When physicians certify that an employee is unable to return to work, then he can receive compensation at 72 percent of his weekly wages for three months and compensation at 66.6 percent thereafter. The Bureau of Workers' Compensation issues its approval or denial within 28 days after the claims' filings. Injured workers can appeal their denials by filing appeals with the district hearing offices within 45 days.
Statutes of Limitations
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Injured employees have two years to file their compensation claims from the date of their injuries. For latent injuries or conditions that are not immediately apparent, employees have two years from when they first began having symptoms or within six months of diagnosis by a licensed doctor. After the statute of limitations periods toll, employees are time-barred from filing claims for compensation. The Ohio workers' compensation law also allows beneficiaries of deceased workers to file claims on their behalf. Beneficiaries or dependents have two years from the date of death to file their claims.
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