State of Connecticut Workers' Compensation Commission

What You Need to KnowWorkers' Compensation Commission

If You've Had a Work-Related Injury or Been Diagnosed with an Occupational Disease or Illness

 

It is important for you to know that, as an injured or ill employee, it is essential that you understand your rights and responsibilities within the workers' compensation system.

Even if you have a workers' compensation representative or attorney representing you, the more you personally know about the workers' compensation system and about the facts of your individual case, the better and more easily you will be able to get through your situation and return (as much as your injury allows) to your normal work and your normal life.

 

 

The Connecticut Workers' Compensation System . . .
 

  • covers almost all employees, including minors, non-citizens, and part-time employees, regardless of occupation, business size, duration of employment, or number of hours worked per day (except for those working around a private home for not more than twenty-six hours per week);
     
  • is a no-fault system of insurance in which private insurers or self-insured employers pay benefits to an injured employee, even if the accident was the employee’s fault or the employee was born with a medical condition which predisposed him or her to the injury or increased its severity;
     
  • is designed to help workers injured on the job or with an occupational disease by providing all necessary medical treatment; weekly benefits while disabled; vocational rehabilitation, if necessary; and additional benefits for scarring, disfigurement, and permanent physical impairment;
     
  • gives coverage that cannot be signed away, except a) by officers of a corporation or partners operating partnerships who request in writing to be excluded from coverage or b) as the result of a stipulated settlement of an individual claim that is approved by an Administrative Law Judge;
     
  • denies compensation for certain injuries, such as those resulting from substance or alcohol abuse;
     
  • establishes a system of Administrative Law Judges who hold hearings to resolve disputes in workers’ compensation cases;

and
 

  • provides free self-help informational materials: publications, an informative website — http://wcc.state.ct.us — and information via a toll-free WATS telephone line: 1-800-223-WORK