If you were hurt on the job in Florida, workers' compensation is supposed to cover your medical care and part of your lost wages — no matter who caused the accident. But it is a system built with strict deadlines and hard limits, and the insurance company's goal is to pay as little as possible. Our Florida workers' compensation attorneys help injured workers across the state get the benefits they are owed.
A Message From George Goldberg
“I earned my law degree at the University of Miami, so Florida has always been close to me, and our firm has fought for injured workers for more than 30 years. Florida’s workers’ compensation system is meant to pay your medical bills and part of your lost wages no matter who was at fault, but it is a no-fault system with hard deadlines and no payment for pain and suffering, and insurers routinely deny, delay, and cut off benefits. Our Florida attorneys make the system work the way it is supposed to. When you call, you work directly with our team, and you pay nothing unless we win.”
George Goldberg, Founding Partner, Goldberg & Loren
A Recent Florida Workers' Compensation Result
Recovered for an injured worker in a Florida workers' compensation claim, structured with a Medicare Set-Aside to fund future medical care. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
How Florida Workers' Compensation Works
Report your injury within 30 days. Under Florida Statutes § 440.185, you must tell your employer about a work injury within 30 days; your employer then has 7 days to notify its insurance carrier. Missing the 30-day window can jeopardize your claim.
You have two years to file a petition for benefits. Under § 440.19, a petition for benefits must be filed within two years of when you knew or should have known your injury was work-related. Receiving benefits or medical care can extend that window by one year from the last payment.
What workers' compensation pays — and what it does not. Florida workers' comp is a no-fault, economic-only system. It pays for authorized medical treatment, a portion of lost wages (temporary total disability is generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage under § 440.15), and permanent-impairment and death benefits. It does not pay for pain and suffering or mental anguish — those damages are only available through a separate liability claim against a negligent third party (someone other than your employer).
You generally cannot sue your employer. In exchange for these no-fault benefits, workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer (§ 440.11). The main exception is a third-party claim — for example, against a negligent driver, equipment manufacturer, or subcontractor — which can include the pain-and-suffering damages that comp does not.
Florida Workers' Compensation by City
Our team handles workers' compensation claims across Florida. Choose your city to learn more:
Frequently Asked Questions
You must notify your employer within 30 days of the injury (or of when you knew it was work-related), under Florida Statutes § 440.185. Report it in writing and keep a copy.
Two years from the date you knew or should have known the injury was work-related (§ 440.19). The deadline can be extended by one year from the last payment of benefits or medical care.
No. Florida workers' comp is a no-fault system that pays medical care, part of your lost wages, and impairment benefits — not pain and suffering. Those damages are only recoverable in a separate claim against a negligent third party.
Generally no — workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer (§ 440.11). But if a third party (not your employer) contributed to your injury, you may have a separate lawsuit against them.
Authorized medical treatment, temporary disability (wage-replacement) benefits, permanent-impairment benefits, and, in fatal cases, death benefits for surviving family.
Sources:
Florida Statutes Chapter 440 — § 440.185 (notice of injury), § 440.19 (limitations), § 440.15 (compensation for disability), § 440.11 (exclusiveness of liability). The Florida Senate / Florida Legislature. flsenate.gov
