Own Motion information

For every compensable injury, a worker has five years to file a claim for aggravation or worsening of that injury ("aggravation rights"). Aggravation rights expire five years from the date of a disabling claim's first closure or five years from the date of injury of a nondisabling claim [ORS 656.273(4)]. After a worker's aggravation rights expire, the worker's claim is in the Workers' Compensation Board's Own Motion jurisdiction under ORS 656.278. The types of benefits available for Own Motion claims and the requirements to receive those benefits differ from claims whose aggravation rights have not expired. The applicable procedures for obtaining Own Motion benefits and for responding to such claims are in ORS 656.278 and WCB's administrative rules (OAR 438, Div. 012).