How long do I have to report a work injury and file a workers' comp claim in Arizona?

Question

Accepted Answer

There are two separate deadlines: report the injury to your employer immediately ("forthwith"), and file your workers' compensation claim with the Industrial Commission within one year.

Reporting the injury to your employer. When an accident occurs, you must report the accident and resulting injury to your employer "forthwith" — that is, promptly and without delay . If the injury is not reported forthwith, no compensation may be paid for the injury, although the Industrial Commission may excuse the failure to report if it finds after investigation that the circumstances justified it .

Filing the claim with the Industrial Commission. A claim for compensation is not valid or enforceable unless it is filed in writing with the Industrial Commission within one year after the injury occurred or the right to compensation accrued . The one-year clock begins to run when the injury becomes manifest or when you know, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should know, that you have sustained a compensable injury . Neither the Commission nor any court has jurisdiction over a late claim, except in limited circumstances — such as justifiable reliance on a material representation by the Commission, employer, or insurance carrier, or if you were insane, legally incompetent, or incapacitated . The one-year period is also suspended if you give written notification of the injury and intended claim to the insurance carrier or self-insured employer, running from the date they receive it until they forward it to the Commission . Additionally, a missed filing deadline does not bar the claim if the employer or insurance carrier has already begun paying compensation benefits .

Note that these are distinct obligations under different statutes: the prompt report to your employer  and the one-year written filing with the Commission  operate independently, so satisfying one does not satisfy the other .