A workers' compensation dispute can be a long and complicated process. There are many forms that must be filed with the North Carolina Industrial Commission, and the sheer number can be overwhelming. An experienced attorney can guide you through the procedure and assist you in filing the right form at the right stage of the proceedings. All of the North Carolina forms for workers' comp claims are available from the Industrial Commission's website: http://www.ic.nc.gov/forms.html#claims.

Form 18 is the starting point for a workers' compensation claim. It is the form by which an injured employee notifies his or her employer of the injury, and it must be filed with the Industrial Commission within two years of the date of injury. From that point, the employee must file other forms based on the type of injury sustained and the medical treatment received.