Minnesota workers' comp glossary
First Report of Injury (FROI)
The form a Minnesota employer must file to report a work injury involving lost time, starting the claim in the state system; failing to report promptly is the employer’s violation, not the worker’s.
The First Report of Injury is how your claim officially enters the Minnesota system. When a work injury causes lost time beyond the waiting period (or otherwise meets reporting thresholds), Minn. Stat. § 176.231 requires the employer to file the FROI with its insurer and the state. It records the basic facts: employer, insurer, injury date, body parts, wage information.
Two things matter for workers. First, the FROI is not your job; it is the employer’s legal duty. Your job is giving the employer notice of the injury (as soon as possible; Minn. Stat. § 176.141 makes notice after 180 days generally fatal to a claim). If a supervisor says "we’ll handle it" and nothing happens, ask in writing whether a FROI was filed.
Second, the FROI’s details follow the claim forever: the injury date sets which rates and rules apply, and the wage information feeds the AWW your benefits are built on. Check both, because early clerical errors quietly become benefit errors.
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General information, not legal advice. Reviewed by Daniel C. Swenson, Minnesota workers' compensation attorney, Robert Wilson & Associates.