Picture a rider getting clipped near Mass Ave and Boylston on a busy June afternoon, then not saying much until a week later because they thought the pain would fade. Most people assume that if an employee does not report the injury the same day, the workers' comp claim is dead. In Massachusetts, that is usually not how it works.

The practical rule is looser for the worker and stricter for the employer.

In Massachusetts, an injured employee is supposed to give notice to the employer as soon as practicable, but a late report does not automatically bar benefits if you had actual knowledge of the injury or were not prejudiced by the delay. The bigger hard deadline is usually the worker's claim deadline: they generally have up to 4 years from when they knew, or should have known, the injury was related to work to file a claim under M.G.L. c. 152.

For you as the employer, the deadline that matters right now is reporting it to your insurer and, if the disability lasts long enough, filing the Employer's First Report of Injury (Form 101) with the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents. That report is due within 7 calendar days, not counting the employee's first 5 full or partial calendar days of disability.

That means if your employee missed a few days after a crash on Storrow Drive, I-93, or while stuck near the Big Dig tunnels in storm traffic, you may still need to report it now.

What most owners also get wrong: a workers' comp claim usually does not mean the employee can sue the employer for negligence. Workers' comp is generally the exclusive remedy against the employer if you have proper coverage. But if a third party caused the crash - another driver, a delivery company, a road contractor - there may be a separate claim against that third party.

Also, don't cut hours or punish the worker for reporting. Retaliation for pursuing Massachusetts workers' comp rights can create a different legal problem entirely.