Workers' Comp Statute of Limitations: A Comprehensive Guide - Carlisle + Byers (2024)

Getting Diagnosed

Great! What does that mean? Simply put, an occupational disease is when your condition develops slowly and over time from what you do at your job. For something like carpal tunnel disease, you could be using a hammer all day, every day, for a decade.

Over the last month, you have noticed pain, numbness, or tingling in your wrists. You go to your doctor, who tells you it is from swinging that hammer for the past ten years. It’s time to file a claim. If your doctor is willing, have them file right then. If not, return to this article’s bolded section above on local L&I offices and choose how you will tell the department about your occupational disease. The only difference is that you have two years to file a claim, whereas you’d only have one year with an on-the-job injury.

Occupational Disease Statute of Limitations

With an occupational disease, you have two years to file from the point when you have BOTH a condition in need of treatment, AND your doctor informs you that the condition is work-related. In theory, you could file 25 years after you have a condition that needs treatment IF no doctor ever told you it was work-related. But why wait? Get it filed, get treated, and get back to life.