It is essentially a no-fault system: the employer is required to compensate a worker for a work-related injury regardless of who was at fault. Under Michigan’s Workers’ Disability Compensation Act, however, what a worker can recover is limited.
How a typical claim works
In most cases, an injured worker receives medical treatment, and the employer or its insurance carrier voluntarily pays benefits. Over time, the worker returns to their former job or to another job with the same employer.
Benefits generally fall into three categories:
- Wage-loss benefits, which are subject to annually adjusted caps
- The cost of medical treatment, subject to cost-containment rules
- Vocational rehabilitation services, which are limited in duration
Vocational rehabilitation can include changes to the worker’s job station, working with the employer and worker to support a return to the same or similar job, or working with an agency to help the worker find a job with another employer.
What injuries and illnesses are covered?
Most types of work-related physical injury and occupational illness can be covered. Commonly covered conditions include repetitive-stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, back injuries, traumatic injuries, wounds, and reactions to substances at work. Pre-existing conditions are generally not covered unless they were aggravated at work. Whether mental or emotional conditions are covered depends on specific legal standards.
What happens when a worker is injured?
Notify your employer of a work-related injury or illness as soon as you are aware of it. For an initial period after the injury, the employer may direct you to a doctor or medical facility of its choosing. After that period, you may generally choose your own treating doctor, but you must tell your employer who that provider is.
How are benefits paid and calculated?
Wage-loss benefits are paid by the self-insured employer or its insurance carrier, and medical bills are ordinarily paid directly to the medical provider. A minimum period of lost wages is required before wage-loss benefits begin.
Weekly benefits are calculated from your “average weekly wage” before the injury, and in certain circumstances fringe benefits may be included. Benefits are subject to a state maximum. Depending on the severity of the injury and wage loss, wage-loss and medical benefits can continue for a long time. We can explain how the calculation applies to you.
Practical next steps
- Report the injury to your employer right away.
- Get medical care and tell the provider the injury happened at work.
- Keep records of time missed from work and any paperwork you receive.
- Contact a lawyer promptly — workers’ compensation claims have legal deadlines.