11.01.110 Notice of Injury, Laches

Eligibility for a claim for compensation is contingent upon an employee qualifying for health coverage and/or disability compensation. Criteria for qualification shall be approved by the Tribal Council and all benefits and eligibility requirements for compensation will be published and made widely available to all employees. At a minimum, the criteria shall include policies and procedures for timely notice from the employee to the Band of injury. The notice shall, at a minimum, include the date, time, nature of injury, and place of injury and any potential or actual witnesses to the injurious event. The notice shall be signed by the employee's supervisor. Further policies and procedures may be developed to supplement the above minimum requirements. Regardless of whether notice was received, if no payment of compensation, other than medical treatment or burial expense, is made, and no application is filed within 2 years from the date of the injury or death, or from the date of the employee or his or her dependent knew or ought to have known the nature of the disability and its relation to the employment, the right to compensation therefore is barred, except that the right to compensation is not barred if the employer knew or should have known, within the 2-year period, that the employee had sustained the injury on which the claim is based. Issuance of notice of a hearing on the Band's own motion has the same effect for the purposes of this section as the filing of an application.