If you are laid off while recovering from a work injury in Fort Wayne or elsewhere in Indiana, separate the employment decision from the injury claim. Save the layoff notice, continue authorized care, follow your written restrictions, and ask for written confirmation of any proposed change to your benefits.
Key takeaways
- A layoff alone is not one of the reasons listed in Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d) for terminating temporary total disability, and the Board’s termination form applies the same notice process to temporary total and temporary partial disability.
- Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d) lists five grounds for ending temporary total disability once it has begun: a return to any employment, death, refusal of a required examination or of suitable employment, exhaustion of 500 weeks or the maximum compensation, and being unable or unavailable to work for reasons unrelated to the compensable injury.
- If you receive State Form 38911 and disagree with the proposed termination, you must notify the Board and the employer in writing within seven days after receiving the notice.
- The employer must furnish reasonable medical care for the compensable injury for the period required by the nature of the injury or recovery process.
- Keep your layoff records, medical restrictions, job-search records, benefit notices, and communications together.
A layoff and a workers’ comp claim are separate issues
Indiana’s workers’ compensation system provides medical services and disability compensation for covered work injuries, while a layoff concerns your employment status. The Fort Wayne workers’ compensation practice page explains the broader claim process.
The critical question after a layoff is why you are not earning wages. If the work injury and resulting restrictions keep you from working, that is different from being medically able to work but unemployed for an unrelated economic reason.
Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d) says that once temporary total disability benefits have begun, the employer may not terminate them unless the employee has returned to any employment; has died; has refused a medical examination under section 6 or refused suitable employment under section 11; has received five hundred weeks of benefits or the maximum compensation allowed under section 22; or is unable or unavailable to work for reasons unrelated to the compensable injury. In each of those instances the employer must give written notice on a form the Board approves, and in all other cases it must notify the employee in writing of its intent to terminate and of the availability of employment, if any.
A release to return to work is not one of those five grounds. The Board’s termination form, State Form 38911[2], offers a treating-physician release as a reason an employer may check, and the form states that if the termination is not due to one of the five reasons enumerated in Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d), four additional days of temporary total disability are owed.
What happens to temporary disability checks?
Temporary disability checks do not necessarily stop on the layoff date. The answer depends on your current medical status and the reason wages are no longer available.
Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d) requires the employer to give written notice on a form the Board approves before temporary total disability benefits are terminated. The Board’s form for that notice is State Form 38911[2], and the form is written for temporary total and temporary partial disability alike.
The form matters because the objection period is short. If you disagree with the proposed termination, Indiana law gives you seven days after receipt to notify the employer and the Worker’s Compensation Board in writing.
The form directs the injured worker to file that disagreement through the Dispute Termination of Benefits link on the Board’s website, and to mail the form only when the worker has no internet access.
Read more about when Indiana workers’ comp can stop TTD checks before responding to a termination notice.
Does authorized medical care continue after a layoff?
A layoff does not, by itself, erase the employer’s statutory obligation to provide reasonable medical care for a compensable injury. Indiana Code 22-3-3-4[3] requires the employer to furnish reasonable medical services for the period that the nature of the injury or recovery process requires.
Continue attending authorized appointments unless the treating provider, employer, carrier, or Board gives you different instructions. Keep copies of appointment summaries, restrictions, prescriptions, referrals, and messages about scheduling.
If a dispute arises about who controls treatment, review who chooses the doctor in an Indiana workers’ compensation claim.
What to do after receiving a layoff notice
- Get the reason in writing. Save the letter, email, personnel notice, or other record explaining the layoff and its effective date.
- Ask about your claim separately. Request written confirmation of the adjuster, claim number, authorized provider, next appointment, and current benefit status.
- Follow your restrictions. Keep the latest written restrictions and give accurate updates about any change in your work capacity.
- Open every benefit notice promptly. Record the date you received it and keep the envelope or electronic delivery record.
- Do not ignore State Form 38911. An objection to a proposed termination must reach the employer and Board within seven days after you receive the notice.
- Keep job-search information. Preserve applications, interview messages, offers, job descriptions, and notes about whether the duties fit your restrictions.
- Review permanent impairment separately. A layoff does not determine whether a physician will assign permanent partial impairment after the injury stabilizes; Delventhal Law Office’s Indiana PPI calculator is an educational tool for organizing that issue.
Records to organize after a layoff
| Document | What to save or note |
|---|---|
| Layoff notice | Save the original and record when you received it. |
| Medical restrictions | Keep every version in date order. |
| Benefit checks | List payment dates and amounts from your records. |
| State Form 38911 | Save the form, envelope, attachments, and delivery date. |
| Adjuster communications | Keep emails and summarize telephone calls. |
| Job-search records | Save applications, job descriptions, and employer responses. |
| Medical appointments | Record attendance, mileage, restrictions, and follow-up dates. |
What if the carrier stops or disputes benefits?
The Worker’s Compensation Board offers an informal dispute process that begins with a Request for Assistance, State Form 45442. According to the Board, its case coordinators use that process to inquire into disputes such as delayed temporary-disability payments and premature termination of medical or disability benefits.
You can find the form and process on the Board’s informal disputes page[4]. The Board also lists an Application for Adjustment of Claim, State Form 29109, for the formal hearing process on its official forms page[5].
A Request for Assistance does not replace the seven-day objection required when you dispute a proposed termination under Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1]. It also does not extend the statutory deadline for filing a workers’ compensation claim.
Indiana Code 22-3-3-3[6] generally bars a workers’ compensation claim unless an application is filed within two years after the occurrence of the accident, subject to the statute’s terms and exceptions. For a focused explanation, see Indiana’s workers’ compensation filing deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a layoff automatically close my Indiana workers’ comp claim?
No. A layoff alone is not one of the five statutory reasons listed in Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d) for ending temporary total disability benefits.
Can workers’ comp checks continue after a layoff?
They may continue when the compensable injury still prevents work and no statutory ground for termination applies. The particular answer depends on the medical restrictions, work capacity, benefit history, and reason employment ended.
Can authorized treatment continue after I lose my job?
Yes, when the treatment remains reasonable and required for the compensable injury under Indiana Code 22-3-3-4[3]. Employment separation alone does not eliminate that statutory medical-care obligation.
What should I do if I receive State Form 38911?
Read it immediately and record the date of receipt. If you disagree with the proposed termination, notify the employer and the Worker’s Compensation Board in writing within seven days after receiving the notice.
What if I start a new job?
Indiana Code 22-3-3-7[1](d) allows an employer to terminate temporary total disability benefits when the employee has returned to any employment, with the written notice the statute requires. Report new employment and wages accurately to the claim administrator.
Where can I ask for help with a disputed Indiana claim?
The Worker’s Compensation Board’s informal dispute process begins with State Form 45442, the Request for Assistance. A formal claim may be initiated with State Form 29109, the Application for Adjustment of Claim.
If you were laid off while an Indiana workers’ compensation claim was open and are unsure how the change affects your benefits or medical care, Delventhal Law Office can review the notices and records with you and explain the available next steps. Request a free consultation.
This article provides general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not establish representation by Delventhal Law Office. The photographs are original illustrative scenes, not records of an actual claim. Legal sources were checked September 20, 2026.
