HB 22-1112

House Bill 22-1112, which has been signed into law in Colorado, changes the rules for workers' compensation. It extends the time an injured worker has to report their injury from 4 days to 10 days and ensures they won't lose any benefits if their employer already knew about the injury or there's a good reason why the employee couldn’t report it on time. The bill also requires employers to post clearer notices in the workplace, informing employees of their rights under workers' compensation laws and how to file claims. This affects all Colorado workers and employers who are part of the state’s workers’ compensation system. Since the bill has been signed, these new rules will now be enforced by law.

Official Summary

Current law requires an injured employee or someone else with knowledge of the injury to notify the employer within 4 days after the occurrence of an on-the-job injury, authorizes a reduction in compensation to the injured employee for failure to timely notify the employer, and tolls the 4-day period if the employer has failed to post a notice specifying the injured employee's notification deadline. The act changes the 4-day notice period to a 10-day notice period and prohibits a loss of compensation if the employer had actual notice of the injury or good cause is shown for the employee's failure to timely report the injury. If an employer fails to provide a copy of the notice of the injury to the employee or fails to post the required notice to employees, the act specifies that the time period allotted to the employee to notify the employer of an injury is tolled for the duration of the failure. The act also changes the notice that an employer is required to post in the workplace to require that the notice state the name of the insurer and that the: Employer is required to have and pay for workers' compensation insurance; Injured employee has rights under the law if the employer fails to carry workers' compensation insurance; Employee should notify employer if injured; Injury must be reported to the employer; and Employee may file a workers' compensation claim. With regard to occupational diseases, the act also: Limits the ability of the director of the division of workers compensation to reduce compensation to an employee to circumstances where the employer does not have actual knowledge of the contraction of a disease or there is not good cause shown to provide timely notice of the disease; and Repeals the provision that states that an employer is deemed to waive a failure to give notice of an occupational disease or death resulting from the disease unless the employer objects at a hearing on the claim prior to any award or decision.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Votes