Workers' Compensation

If you meet any of the criteria below and are injured while working on the job, you must file a workers’ compensation claim with University Risk Management.

Employee Defined

• You are paid wages by the University of Colorado.
• At the time of the incident you were performing activities that the university pays you to do. This includes medical residents and healthcare students (e.g. Dental, Medical and Nursing) in university sponsored trainee programs.

Student Interns

• Credit and noncredit University of Colorado sponsored internships must meet their campus Experiential Learning internship requirements.

If you meet any of the above criteria, please file a claim. If you’re unsure of your employment status, contact University Risk Management directly at 303-860-5682 or toll free at 888-812-9601 to determine specific eligibility.

Work Related Injury or Illness

Colorado law requires, “WRITTEN NOTICE MUST BE GIVEN TO YOUR EMPLOYER WITHIN 4 WORKING DAYS OF THE ACCIDENT or 20 DAYS OF AN OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE. If you don’t report your injury or occupational disease promptly your benefits may be reduced.”

Timely completion and submission of a claim form to University Risk Management and a copy handed to your supervisor will suffice for notice.

File a Claim

Get appropriate medical treatment as follows:

1. For an EMERGENCY call 911 or go to the closest urgent care facility or emergency room.
2. For a non-emergency or any follow-up medical care, you must seek treatment with a Designated Medical Provider (DMP). Select your campus from the list below and choose any provider on the list.
   • Boulder
   • Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus
   • Colorado Springs
   • If you are outside of the campus area, you may contact URM directly for a DMP in your area.
3. Establish contact with your supervisor or faculty sponsor/designee to:
   • Ensure they are aware of your injury/illness.
   • Report any time you have lost work because of the injury/illness.
   • Bring any medical reports you receive to these contacts so they have verification of your ability to return to work.
4. Follow instructions from the DMP regarding medications, restrictions and treatment.
5. Attend all medical appointments. If you have medical questions, discuss them with the DMP.
6. The assigned adjuster may or may not contact you regarding your claim. If you have additional questions or concerns contact the URM main office at 303-860-5682 or toll free at 888-812-9601​​.

Needlestick or Body Fluid Exposure

If you have had a needlestick or body fluid exposure, there may be coverage under workers’ compensation. Please find your campus below and follow the outlined procedures for that campus.

Billing

Please request that all billings from any emergency care or medical providers be sent directly to URM to review. If you receive any bills directly from a provider, DO NOT DISREGARD THEM, forward to URM directly by email, mail or fax.

University Risk Management
1800 Grant St. Suite 700
Denver, CO 80203
Fax: 303-860-5680
Email: workcomp@cu.edu

For a non-emergency or any follow-up medical care, you must seek treatment with a Designated Medical Provider (DMP).

Supervisors

As the supervisor of an injured employee, you have responsibilities that include but are not limited to:

• Verify that the employee’s work related injury is reported to URM in a timely manner.
• Provide the employee with the Designated Medical Provider (DMP) list for your campus so the employee may choose a DMP.
• After every DMP exam, confirm the employee is giving you their “Physicians Report of Workers’ Compensation Injury.”
  • If there are any restrictions given, determine if your department can accommodate.
  • Immediately communicate with URM if the injured employee is unable to return to work within restrictions or is taken off work by a DMP.
• Track and report ANY lost time the employee has because of his or her workers’ compensation claim to URM (Payroll Liaisons may also be responsible for this task).
• Ensure that workers’ compensation posters are up and visible to your employees in community areas.
  • Boulder
  • Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus
  • Colorado Springs

The assigned adjuster may or may not contact you directly with additional questions they have regarding the workers’ compensation claim. Please contact URM to discuss any questions.

Payroll Liaisons

Payroll liaisons may share some of the same responsibilities of the supervisor depending on your campus and your specific department. Either you or the supervisor must report ANY lost time for a work related injury directly to URM. Contact Human Resources for any family medical leave questions or Employee Services for any time coding questions.

Lost Time Worksheet Submission Process

• The supervisor and the payroll liaison are responsible for reporting lost time to URM per the instructions listed below:
• Lost time worksheets must be completed in full (All dates and hours for workers’ compensation time and non-workers’ compensation time).
• Worksheets must be submitted every two weeks until the employee reaches maximum medical improvement or the handling adjuster advises otherwise.
• When an employee is not OJI eligible or has reached make whole, lost time worksheets must be submitted weekly. What is OJI eligible?
• To submit lost time, please click on the link below using Internet Explorer. You may also print the form below and fax lost time to URM at 303-860-5680.

Lost Time Worksheet

Lost time is defined as authorized time lost from scheduled work for:

• authorized medical appointments
• time off authorized by the Designated Medical Provider (DMP)
• the department is unable to accommodate restrictions that are placed on the injured employee by the DMP

It is the employee’s responsibility to tell the supervisor if he or she is losing time by giving their supervisor the “Physicians Report of Workers’ Compensation Injury” to document lost time and any restrictions.

Medical appointments, diagnostics and therapy appointments should be scheduled around the employee’s working shift to minimize lost time from work.

Lost Time Worksheet Submission Process

The supervisor and the payroll liaison are responsible for reporting lost time to URM per the instructions listed below:

• Lost time worksheets must be completed in full (all dates and hours for workers’ compensation time and non-workers’ compensation time).
• Worksheets must be submitted every two weeks until the employee reaches maximum medical improvement or the handling adjuster advises otherwise.
• When an employee is not OJI eligible or has reached make whole, lost time worksheets must be submitted weekly. What is OJI eligible?
• To submit lost time, please click on the link below using Internet Explorer. You may also print the form below and fax lost time to URM at 303-860-5680.

Lost Time Worksheet

Waiting Period

Under Colorado Workers’ Compensation law, an employee must lose either 24 hours of scheduled work OR three scheduled shifts of authorized time before workers’ compensation lost time benefits begin.

This is defined as the “waiting period.” URM must have lost time worksheets submitted in order to track this information.

Time Coding

The waiting period is coded as sick/vacation leave. If an employee accumulates more than 14 occurrences of authorized lost time including the waiting period, then the sick/vacation time must be changed to OJI.

On the Job Injury (OJI) Eligible and Non-Eligible Employees

Eligible

• full time permanent employees of the university
• EXCEPTION at CU Boulder Campus ONLY: employees hired at 1 percent or 10 percent time into a permanent position in the classified system

If an employee is On the Job Injury eligible (OJI) and the waiting period has been met, the employee will receive 100 percent of their pay from their department for 90 occurrences. An occurrence is counted based on time lost from work. If an employee loses one hour for a medical appointment on a working day, the day is counted as a full occurrence. If 90 occurrences are reached, your handling adjuster will be in contact with you regarding the make whole process.

State of Colorado OJI Policy

Non-Eligible

• part-time employees (This may include 9 month faculty)
• student workers
• student interns
• retirees

If an employee is NOT eligible and the waiting period has been met, URM will pay the employee directly based on the number of hours lost at 66 2/3 percent of their normal salary on a bi-weekly basis as defined under Colorado Workers’ Compensation law.