What to do if your employer will not report your work accident

The Employer’s Accident Report (CFSE-373) is filled out by the employer, and in practice some employers do not fill it out: because their policy is not current, because they fear a premium increase, or simply because they do not want to. The CFSE anticipates that situation and publishes an alternative route. The Voluntary Report lets the worker open the case themselves, and the CFSE-450.1 sworn statement is the document recording that you tried to obtain the employer’s report and could not. It is not a favor or an exception: it is part of the published procedure.

It applies to any worker entitled to file an occupational case whose employer did not complete the CFSE-373. The CFSE is explicit on a point that usually discourages people: even if your employer has no active policy with the CFSE, you have the right to file a claim if you suffered a work accident or an occupational illness. The missing policy is a problem between the CFSE and your employer, not an obstacle to your treatment.

• Having tried to get the employer to complete Form CFSE-373, and reporting it at Triage when you arrive at the CFSE facility.Verified against the official source
• Reporting to a dispensary, regional office or the Industrial Hospital within the same five-day window that applies to any work accident.Verified against the official source
• Valid photo identification.Verified against the official source

• Form CFSE-450.1: the sworn statement used when the employer did not provide the Employer’s Report.
• The partially completed form the Filing Office gives you so you can try again with your employer.
• The medical record, if you were already treated for the injury.

1. 1

   Step 1: Ask once, clearly, and do not leave it there

   Ask your supervisor or authorized personnel to complete Form CFSE-373. The CFSE contemplates the employer filling it out manually if they lack system access, so lack of access is not a valid reason to refuse you. If the answer is no, move to the next step the same day: the five-day clock runs regardless.

2. 2

   Step 2: Go to the CFSE and say so at Triage

   Report to any dispensary, regional office or the Industrial Hospital, and state at Triage that your employer refused. Do not wait to be asked. That statement is what triggers the alternative route instead of sending you back to chase a paper you will not get.

3. 3

   Step 3: Pick up the CFSE-450.1 at the Filing Office and try again

   At the Filing Office they give you a partially completed form together with the CFSE-450.1, with the idea that you make a second attempt with your employer. It is worth doing: a signed employer’s report avoids arguments later. But it is an attempt, not a requirement that blocks you.

4. 4

   Step 4: If they keep refusing, submit the sworn statement

   Submit the CFSE-450.1 at the Filing Office. With that your case is filed through the Voluntary Report route and follows the same path as any other: your file is opened, you sign the CFSE-1219 treatment consent, and you move on to medical evaluation with the doctor assigned to you.

5. 5

   Step 5: Expect an investigation if there are discrepancies

   The CFSE publishes that the employer may note discrepancies in the report, and that in response the agency may open an investigation and notify both parties of the result. A discrepancy does not close your case: what it does is open an investigation in which your account also counts.

At any CFSE dispensary, regional office or the Industrial Hospital. The phone number the CFSE publishes for injured workers is 1-855-ELFONDO (1-855-353-6636).

• Believing there is no case without the employer’s signature, when the Voluntary Report exists.
• Letting the five days run while fighting over the CFSE-373 instead of going to the CFSE and saying so at Triage.
• Accepting that “the employer has no policy” closes the matter.
• Not asking for the CFSE-450.1 because you did not know it exists.
• Showing up without photo ID or without the medical record from earlier treatment.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Corporación del Fondo del Seguro del Estado (CFSE)

  Fondo del Seguro del Estado

  www.cfse.pr.gov

• CFSE frequently asked questions for injured workers

  CFSE

  www.cfse.pr.gov