The North Carolina Industrial Commission administers the North Carolina workers’ compensation program for the state. In North Carolina, employers with more than three workers must carry workers’ compensation insurance (domestic and agricultural business rules are slightly different).

Under the North Carolina workers’ compensation rules, if your employer does not receive written notice of your injury within 30 days, you may not be entitled to workers’ compensation. If your work-related injury is due to occupational illness, then the 30 days begins when your doctor informs you that he or she believes your illness is work-related. Your employer is required to give you a form to fill out (Form 18). It will require detailed information about your work-related injury and how and when it occurred. Fill out the form carefully and completely and return it to your employer. Make sure you get a copy of the form back from your employer with your employer or his representative’s signature on it. Your employer must advise you of its refusal to provide workers’ compensation for your injury or must begin payments for your injury within 14 days of notification of the injury.

North Carolina workers’ compensation statutes provide that if the injury causes total disability, the employee is entitled to 2/3 of his average weekly wage. The average weekly wage may become a source of dispute in cases where the employee often works overtime or is paid on a commission basis. If his total disability is permanent, he may receive compensation for the rest of his lifetime. If an injured employee is only able to return to work temporarily at a reduced rate and hours, the employee may be entitled to 2/3 of the difference between his average weekly wage before the injury and the wage he is able to earn after the injury for up to 300 weeks. The employee may begin receiving workers’ compensation seven days after his injury and if the injury continues for more than twenty-one days, the employee will receive benefits for the first seven days. If the employee is permanently partially disabled or suffers the loss of a body part listed by statute, the employee will be entitled to a set period of 2/3 of his average weekly wage. If the employee is killed as a result of a work-related injury, the employer will pay for burial expenses up to $3,500 and his dependents or next of kin will receive monetary benefits through the workers’ compensation program.

If you need our help with a workers’ compensation claim, call us at 1.800.556.8404.