Notice

NOTICE

A claim is barred unless the employer had notice or knowledge of the injury within 90 days after it occurred. This rule has many variations and exceptions.

There is no official prescribed form that needs to be used, and notice may be either oral or written. Although notification must include the nature of the injury and that it was work related, inaccuracies in any of the facts given will generally not void the validity of the notice unless the employer was not given enough information be able to tell that a work-related injury might have occurred. The employee need not give the notice himself as long as the employer had actual knowledge of the injury within the 90 days.

The 90 days are extended during any time when the employee is unable physically or mentally to give notice or is mistaken as to the facts necessary to know that he was injured or that his condition was work related (39-A M.R.S.A. §301, 302). This mistake of fact exception is particularly powerful in gradual injury cases.

The new 90-day period provided under the 1992 Act is retroactive to injuries before 01/01/93.

In the case of gradual injuries, the 90-day notice period begins when the injury "occurs." In this circumstance, an injury is thought to "occur" when the employee knows or has reason to believe that he has a work-related, non-trivial condition that may be compensable. Often this event occurs when he has to stop working, but it may also occur when the employee first seeks medical treatment. The date of injury with gradual injuries is often subject to dispute.