Massachusetts DIA updates mandatory workplace poster, notice requirements

The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) and Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) recently updated their mandatory workplace posters and related employer notice requirements. Here’s what you need to know.

New poster provides plain language instructions

Past versions of the DIA’s workplace poster required employers to identify their workers’ compensation insurance carrier, policy number, insurance agent, and related contact information but didn’t offer injured workers any explanation about what they could or should do with that information. The recently updated version fills that hole by instructing injured employees to immediately notify their employer’s designated contact person if they have been injured on the job, to notify their medical provider that their injury was work-related, and to give their medical provider the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance information.

The poster also advises employees that they may file an Employee’s Claim form (Form 110) with the DIA if their employer fails to do so. As a refresher, you are required to file an Employer’s First Report of Injury form (Form 101) within seven calendar days after an injured employee’s fifth day of full or partial disability from work because of a work-related illness or injury. If an injured employee is not disabled for at least five days, employers can—but are not required to—file a “medical only” claim on Form 101. Forms 101 can only be filed electronically via the employer’s online DIA account.