Filing a Workers' Compensation Claim in Alabama:
A workers’ compensation claim is filed by notifying your employer of your work-related injury. Report the injury you have sustained. The application for benefits is given to the employer.

If your employer declines to accept liability, you may call the Workers' Compensation Division (1-800-528-5166) and ask to speak to an Examiner. You have the right to obtain the services of an attorney to handle the claim in the courts as provided by the law.

Fees of Alabama attorneys cannot exceed 15% of the amount of the benefit awarded.

Alabama Waiting Period:
In cases of an employment-related, temporary total or temporary partial disability, no compensation shall be allowed for the first three days after disability, nor in any case, unless the employer has actual knowledge of the injury or is notified within the period specified. Compensation begins on the fourth day after you received your injury.

In the event the work-related disability exists for a period as much as 21 days, compensation for the first three days after the injury will be added to the first benefit payment you receive after the expiration of the 21 days.

You must file your workers’ compensation claim within two years from the date you sustained the injury.

Alabama Workers' Compensation Treatment:
The employer is responsible for the payment of reasonably necessary medical treatments obtained by the injured employee during the disability. They will select the treating physician at the time of the accident. If you are dissatisfied with the initial treating physician selected by the employer, you may be entitled to select a second physician from a panel or list of four additional physicians selected by the employer.

If the injured employee refuses to comply with any reasonable request for examination, or refuses to accept the medical service or physical rehabilitation which the employer provides, the employee's right to compensation will be suspended until the employee agrees to the terms set forth by the employer.

Alabama Workers' Compensation Benefits: To calculate your workers’ compensation benefit amount, multiply your average weekly earnings for 52 weeks prior to injury by 66 2/3%. This will be your weekly benefit rate as long as it does not exceed the maximum benefit amount (see the Alabama website for the current rate).

In the case of death, multiply the employee's average weekly earnings prior to the accident by 50% if the employee has one dependent, or by 66 2/3% if the employee has two or more dependents. If the deceased employee, at the time of his or her death, has no dependents, then within 60 days of his or her death, the employer shall pay a one-time lump sum payment of $7,500 to the deceased worker's estate.

• The following types of claims cannot exceed the time period shown:

Death		500 weeks
Permanent		Unlimited
Permanent Partial Body		300 weeks
Temporary Total		Unlimited
Temporary Partial		300 weeks

Alabama Workers' Compensation Contact Information:
Scottie Spates, Director
Department of Industrial Relations
Workers' Compensation Division
649 Monroe Street Montgomery, AL 36131
(334) 353-0990 or 1-800-528-5166
(Contact: Teresa Davis)

NOTICE: These questions and answers concern Alabama law only, and should not be construed nor relied upon as reflecting the law in other States, nor as giving legal advice. You are warned that circumstances often vary greatly and that, due to changing decisions and law, the answers to these questions may change over time and not be current, and you should consult an attorney in any specific case, and NOT rely on these questions and answers as giving anything other than general information.