How Long Do I Have to Report a Work Injury in Minnesota?

Minnesota gives you 180 days to tell your employer about a work injury. Minn. Stat. § 176.141 starts that clock on the date you knew, or should have known, that the injury was related to work.

That is notice to the employer, not a claim petition and not a call to the insurer. The First Report of Injury (FROI) is how most employers pass the notice to the Department of Labor and Industry. Your job is to make sure the employer was told, on a date you can prove.

§ 176.141 also has shorter periods. Unless the employer already knew about the injury, no compensation is due until written notice is given or knowledge is obtained, which makes the first 14 days matter for when checks start. Between 31 and 180 days, prejudice and statutory excuses (mistake, inability, fraud) can decide whether benefits are reduced or allowed. The deadline calculator counts all three tiers.

What counts as notice

Tell a supervisor or HR. Then put it in writing: email, text you keep, or the injury-report form. "I mentioned it in the break room" is how 180-day fights are lost.

The injury-report builder will draft the facts. Keep a copy.

When the 180 days start

For a sudden accident, the date you were hurt is usually the date you knew.

For a gradual injury, the clock can start later. A Gillette claim (years of lifting, no single fall) starts the clock when you knew or should have known the condition came from work. That is often the first doctor visit that connected it, not the first sore morning.

What late notice does

Insurers deny claims for late notice. The denial is not the last word. The employer may already have known. There can be a lawful excuse. Those are facts for a Claim Petition, not reasons to stay silent now.

If they denied you, read denied workers' comp claim in Minnesota.

Notice is not the first check

Reporting starts the claim. The first TTD payment has its own 14-day rule after lost time and employer knowledge. That is when work comp has to start paying.