When should you tell your employer you’ve been injured at work?

Sometimes injuries at work happen in an instant. It might be that a tool you’re using breaks down and hurts you or you fall from an unsafe structure. In those instances, you’ll know that the pain you’re experiencing is directly related to your job.

On other occasions, it might not be apparent to you straight away. One example might be debilitating back pain that you didn’t directly attribute to your employment. In any event, you need to let your employer know. When do you need to do this?

There are tight timescales in Texas for informing your employer

To be entitled to worker’s compensation in Texas, you have to let your employer know about your injury within 30 days.

This 30-day period begins either on the day you were injured or the date you knew your injury or illness was job-related. For certain ailments, this may therefore be later than 30 days. You might discover that the pain you’ve been suffering is due to your job when you visit the doctor or hospital. From the date you find out you then have 30 days to tell your employer.

If you do not tell your employer within this timescale, you may find that you’re not entitled to benefits so it’s important to make sure you don’t wait if you’re injured.

Being injured at work through no fault of your own can have devastating consequences. You can find yourself unemployed and without an income with little to no notice. With strict timescales in place, making a claim for worker’s compensation should be treated as a priority.