Bellows bill lengthens deadline for filing workers’ compensation claims

Posted: March 07, 2019 | Senator Bellows

A bill by Sen. Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, to lengthen the deadline for filing workers’ compensation claims was the subject of a public hearing in the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee on Wednesday.

The bill, LD 947 “An Act To Extend the Notice of Injury Period in the Maine Workers’ Compensation Act of 1992,” increases the current 30 day deadline for filing claims to 180 days, starting in 2020.

“Current law requires that a worker give notice within 30 days of the date of injury. Unfortunately, many valid claims from workers are eliminated simply because of an arbitrary and unfair deadline,” said Sen. Bellows. “Our workers’ compensation system represents an important bargain between employers and employees. It’s important that we evaluate what’s working and what is not in two ways: what is fair for injured workers whose ability to work in the future may be permanently compromised due to workplace injury, and what is fair to businesses in terms of predictable and stable costs.”

In other instances, individuals have much longer than 30 days to make claims:

  • Civil claims – 180 days
  • Maine Human Rights Act – 300 days
  • Medical malpractice – 3 years
  • A personal injury such as a car accident – 6 years

“A worker that suffers an injury and decides to be a good employee and suck it up and stay at work because they enjoy their job, they don’t want to disappoint their employer or fellow employees who may be relying on them, or they simply feel forced by financial considerations to try to work through an injury as long as possible and avoid healthcare costs, and then learns that their good-faith attempt to continue working is rewarded with them being told on day 31 after suffering an injury – so sorry, you are late, no benefits for you – strikes me as cruel and an abject failure of the grand bargain,” said Andrew Mason of the Maine Education Association.

LD 947 faces further action in the Labor and Housing Committee, and votes in the Maine House and Senate.