North Carolina Workers' Compensation: Fast Facts
Coverage Requirements Under North Carolina State Law
Most North Carolina businesses with at least three employees must have workers' compensation insurance, with few exceptions. See which North Carolina employees are usually exempt from this coverage requirement below.
Work-Related Injury or Illness Reporting Requirements
Notify your employer about your work-related illness or injury orally or in writing as soon as possible. You must report it in writing within 30 days, or else your ability to claim North Carolina workers' compensation is at risk.
Where to Seek Medical Care
State law gives North Carolina employers or their insurers the right to both provide and direct your medical care. If you see a doctor without the Commission's written permission, then you may have to pay those medical bills yourself. If you need urgent medical care and your employer refuses or fails to provide it, you may seek treatment anywhere. However, you must request IC's approval for that visit under South Carolina workers' compensation law immediately afterwards.
Waiting Period for Lost-Wage Benefits in North Carolina
Your first 7 days off are always unpaid unless you cannot work at all for at least 3 weeks (21 days). Once you're out for 22 days, workers' compensation covers partial lost wages for your first unpaid week off work. If you don't need at least a week off to recover, then North Carolina workers' compensation only covers medical expenses.
North Carolina Workers' Compensation Statute of Limitations
You have two years from your work injury or illness diagnosis date to apply for North Carolina workers' compensation benefits.
North Carolina Weekly Compensation Rate
You can receive 66 2/3% of your gross average weekly wage, subject to the state's maximum and minimum benefit amounts.
How Long You Can Receive North Carolina Workers' Comp Benefits
- Medical benefits: unlimited
- Death benefits: up to $10,000 for funeral and burial expenses, plus 2/3 of the deceased workers' AWW paid to the surviving spouse for 500 weeks or until the youngest child turns 18
- Temporary Total Disability (TTD): until you return to work, or up to 500 weeks max
- Permanent Partial Disability (PPD): up to 300 weeks of TTD payments or no more than $20,000 for disfigurement
- Temporary Partial Disability (TPD): 2/3 the difference between your pre-injury and post-injury earnings for no more than 500 weeks
- Permanent Total Disability (PTD): for life if you suffer severe burns on at least a third of your body, certain head or brain injuries, paralysis, spinal injuries, or the loss of multiple body parts
North Carolina Workers' Comp Coverage Exemptions
The following employees are automatically exempt from North Carolina workers' compensation coverage requirements:
- Casual employees
- Certain railroad workers
- Domestic workers employed in private households
- Farm laborers working for an employer with fewer than 10 full-time regular employees
- Federal employees
- Independent contractors
- Some corporate officers (i.e., they choose to exclude themselves from coverage)
North Carolina Workers' Compensation Attorney Fees
All North Carolina workers' compensation attorneys work on contingency. This means you only pay legal fees for successful claims. If you don't win, then you owe your lawyer $0. North Carolina's Industrial Commission must approve legal fees before you pay - generally, no more than 25% of your final award.
