Colorado lawmakers seek to amend injury notice time in comp

Lawmakers in Colorado are considering legislation that would increase more than threefold the time limits for reporting a workplace injury.

Current law requires an injured employee or someone else with knowledge of the injury to notify the employer within four 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 four-day period if the employer has failed to post a notice specifying the injured employee’s notification deadline.

H.B. 1112, introduced on Friday, would change the four-day notice period to a 14-day notice period and repeals the tolling and compensation reduction provisions. The bill would also require employers to post notices of the time periods.

Among other changes, the bill would also repeal the requirement that an employee notify the employer of an occupational disease within 30 days of contraction of the disease and instead requires an employee to notify the employer upon manifestation of the disease.