Filing a Worker’s Compensation Claim in Oregon:

The claim must be filed in writing. A simple note to a foreman telling them you have been injured suffices. The state of Oregon has a special form, # 801, which is the prescribed method for filing a claim. Under workers' compensation law, once your employer has some sort of notice or even thinks you may have a workers' compensation claim, the employer must give you an 801 form within five days of being informed of the injury.

You should report your injury as soon as possible to your company's supervisor, foreman, or to whomever you have been told to report these injuries. Under the law, you may have as little as 30 days from the time of your accident to report your injury.

If your accident happened after January 1, 2002, the insurance company has 60 days to accept your claim. If your original date of injury is before January 1, 2002, and you make a claim for a new condition, the insurance company has 90 days to accept that new condition.

Oregon Worker’s Compensation Benefits:
Workers' compensation benefits provide the following: payment of your medical bills and payment of your lost wages, 66 2/3% of your gross wages. This is computed by averaging your wages over a 52-week period. If you worked for the employer less than 52 weeks when your injury occurred, then your time loss is computed based on your average earnings for the period that you worked. The insurer will determine how much you made during either the 52-week period or less, they divide that number by the number of weeks you worked and multiply it by .66. That is how your average weekly wage for time loss purposes is computed. You also get your mileage paid to and from the doctors - approximately $.39 per mile. In certain situations, when workers cannot return to their regular jobs, there is vocational training available.

Emotional damages, loss of enjoyment of life, and other damages that are available in civil law suits are not available in workers' compensation claims. However, there are lots of important benefits available in workers' compensation that should be looked at and pursued.

Under workers' compensation law, the right to receive medical services for a compensable injury lasts for "the life of the worker." There are, of course, exceptions to this. However, as long as you are working, and have difficulty with an injured body part, and your doctors relate your need for treatment to the work injury, your medical bills should be paid.

The employee makes the initial choice of physician.

Oregon Worker’s Compensation Waiting Period:

The waiting period for compensation benefits after the injury is 3 days.

Compensation is retroactive if disability continues for 4 days from the date of the injury.

Oregon Contact Information:
John Shilts, Administrator
Workers’ Compensation Division
350 Winter Street, NE
P.O. Box 14480
Salem, OR 97309-0405
 (503) 947-7810  (503) 947-7810 or  1-800-452-0288  1-800-452-0288

NOTICE: These questions and answers concern Oregon 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.