Idaho workers’ compensation laws require nearly every employer in the state to carry insurance that pays medical bills and replaces lost wages for employees hurt on the job, regardless of who caused the injury. The Idaho Industrial Commission runs the system: it regulates insurers, tracks claims, and decides disputes. If you’re injured, the essentials are straightforward. Tell your employer within 60 days, get treated by the physician the insurer authorizes, and expect weekly checks equal to 67 percent of your average wage once you’ve been out longer than five days. Miss the deadlines and you can lose the claim entirely.
Who Is Covered
Coverage applies to all public and private employment in Idaho, including farm labor contracting, unless a specific exemption applies.1Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-203 – Employments Covered There is no minimum employee count. One employee is enough to trigger the requirement, and full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers are all in.
The main groups outside mandatory coverage are household domestic workers, casual employment unrelated to the employer’s usual business, family members living in the household of a sole proprietor, business owners and corporate officers who elect out, agricultural pilots while actually flying, certain independent real estate agents, volunteer ski patrollers, and secondary-school athletic officials.2Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-212 – Exemptions From Coverage Workers covered by a federal liability scheme are also excluded because they have a federal remedy. Any exempt person or employer can elect coverage voluntarily.
Reporting the Injury
You must notify your employer of an on-the-job injury as soon as possible and no later than 60 days after the accident.3Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-701 – Notice of Injury and Claim for Compensation for Injury – Limitations Missing that window can bar the claim, so report even injuries that seem minor at first. For an occupational disease caused by long-term exposure, the 60 days runs from when you first recognize symptoms tied to the disease.
Your employer then documents the incident on the First Report of Injury or Illness (Form 1A-1) and sends it to the insurer and the Industrial Commission.4Industrial Commission. Workers Compensation First Report of Injury or Illness Check that the form correctly states the date, time, location, nature of the injury, and body parts affected. If anyone saw the accident, get their names and contact information while memories are fresh. Witness statements matter if the insurer later questions what happened.
After the employer files the report, the insurer has 30 days from when it learned of the claim to accept or deny it.5Industrial Commission. Prompt Claims Servicing Memo
Medical Care and Choosing a Doctor
The employer or insurer pays for all reasonable medical care related to the work injury, including doctor visits, surgery, hospital stays, prescriptions, and rehabilitation. The insurer pays providers directly, so you should not see bills for covered treatment. Medical benefits start immediately with no waiting period.
One rule surprises many injured workers: the employer or insurer picks your treating physician, not you. To switch doctors, submit a written request to the employer or insurer. They have 14 days to respond. If they refuse or you disagree, you can petition the Industrial Commission for an expedited hearing, and the Commission must rule within 14 days after the employer files its response.6Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-432 – Medical Services and Supplies Going to a provider on your own outside this process can leave you paying the bill, so use the formal change-of-physician procedure.
Wage Replacement
Idaho does not pay income benefits for the first five days you miss work. If you’re off more than 14 days or the injury requires overnight hospitalization, those first five days are paid retroactively.7Industrial Commission. Benefits FAQs
Temporary Total Disability (TTD) pays 67 percent of your average weekly wage while you cannot work, subject to statutory caps and floors tied to the state average weekly wage.8Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-408 – Income Benefits for Total and Partial Disability For 2026, the state average weekly wage is $1,135.9Industrial Commission. 2026 Workers Compensation Benefits Table
During your first 52 weeks of total disability, the weekly benefit cannot exceed 90 percent of your own average wage even if the standard formula would produce more. After 52 weeks, the calculation shifts to 67 percent of the state average wage, capped at 90 percent of that state average ($1,021.50 per week in 2026) and floored at 45 percent ($510.75 in 2026).10Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-409 – Maximum and Minimum Income Benefits That shift matters if your recovery stretches past a year, because your rate can move up or down depending on how your wage compares to the statewide figure.
TTD continues until a doctor releases you to work or determines you have reached maximum medical improvement, meaning further treatment is unlikely to help significantly.
Permanent Disability
If your injury leaves lasting impairment after you reach maximum medical improvement, you can qualify for Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) on top of the TTD you already received. PPD pays 55 percent of the state average weekly wage over a number of weeks set by a schedule that assigns a value to each body part.11Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-428 – Income Benefits for Permanent Disability A finger is worth fewer weeks than an arm. Partial loss or partial loss of use is paid as a proportion of the scheduled value.
Injuries that don’t fit the schedule, like chronic back conditions or traumatic brain injuries, are evaluated by the Industrial Commission based on how the impairment affects your overall earning capacity. Those whole-person cases tend to be more contested.
Death Benefits
When a work injury or occupational disease is fatal, surviving dependents receive weekly benefits calculated as percentages of the state average weekly wage.12Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-413 – Income Benefits for Death A surviving spouse with no dependent children receives 45 percent. A spouse with dependent children receives 45 percent plus an additional 5 percent for each child up to three. Dependent children with no surviving spouse receive 30 percent for one child plus 10 percent for each additional child up to three, capped at 60 percent split equally. Smaller percentages apply to dependent parents, siblings, or grandparents when no spouse or children qualify.
Total death benefits cannot exceed 60 percent of the state average weekly wage regardless of how many dependents are involved. For 2026 that ceiling is $681.00 per week spread across all dependents.9Industrial Commission. 2026 Workers Compensation Benefits Table
Deadlines That Can End Your Claim
Beyond the 60-day notice rule, two more deadlines control when you can bring a dispute to the Industrial Commission:
- If you filed a claim and the insurer never paid anything, you have one year from the date of the claim to file an application for hearing.13Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-706 – Limitation on Time on Application for Hearing
- If benefits were paid and then stopped, you have five years from the date of the accident, or from the first manifestation of an occupational disease, to request a hearing for further compensation.13Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-706 – Limitation on Time on Application for Hearing
The statute says a claim filed outside these windows is “forever barred.” Medical payments made after five years from the accident do not extend your deadline for income benefits. Calendar the dates the moment you’re hurt.
When a Claim Is Denied
If the insurer denies your claim or cuts off benefits before you’ve recovered, file a formal Workers’ Compensation Complaint with the Industrial Commission.14Industrial Commission. Workers Compensation Complaint The employer or insurer has 21 days to answer. If they don’t, the Commission can enter a default award. Once both sides have filed, the case may go through mediation or proceed to a hearing before a referee, with formal rules of evidence and testimony. Legal representation at this stage is a real practical advantage.
Attorney fees work differently here than in most civil cases. If the Commission finds that the employer or insurer denied or discontinued benefits without reasonable grounds, the employer pays the worker’s attorney fees on top of the compensation owed.15Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code 72-804 – Attorney Fees The Commission sets the fee amount rather than leaving it to a private agreement. Most Idaho workers’ compensation attorneys work on contingency, with the fee coming out of benefits recovered and the arrangement subject to Commission approval.
Your Job, SSDI, and FMLA
Idaho does not have a state law that specifically prevents an employer from terminating you while you receive workers’ compensation.7Industrial Commission. Benefits FAQs Your medical and income benefits can continue after a termination depending on the situation, but the job itself is not protected by the workers’ compensation statute. Practical job protection comes from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act if your employer has 50 or more employees, and from a possible wrongful termination claim if you were fired solely in retaliation for reporting the injury. Retaliation claims fall outside the workers’ compensation system, so consult an attorney quickly if that’s what happened.
FMLA and workers’ compensation can run concurrently when your injury qualifies as a serious health condition.16eCFR. 29 CFR 825.702 – Interaction With Federal and State Anti-Discrimination Laws The employer can designate both at once, meaning your 12 weeks of FMLA protection tick down while you recover. If a doctor clears you for light duty and the employer offers a light-duty position, you can decline and stay on unpaid FMLA leave until you can return to your regular job or the 12 weeks expire. Once FMLA runs out, the federal job-protection guarantee ends.
On taxes, workers’ compensation benefits are generally not federally taxable and are not reported as income on your return.17Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income If you also receive Social Security Disability Insurance, federal law caps the combined total at 80 percent of your average current earnings before disability.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 424a – Reduction on Account of Workers Compensation If the combined benefits exceed 80 percent, Social Security reduces the SSDI payment, not the workers’ compensation. Report any changes in your workers’ compensation amount to the Social Security Administration promptly so the offset stays correct.