Massachusetts Workers' Compensation FAQs

These answers explain how workers' compensation works under Massachusetts law, M.G.L. c. 152: who is covered, how to report an injury, what each benefit pays, and what happens when the insurer says no. Dollar figures are dated because the state resets them every October.

Almost every employee in Massachusetts is covered from the first day of work, including part-time and seasonal workers. Employers must carry workers' compensation insurance or be approved to self-insure. The statute has a few exceptions, such as some part-time household domestic workers, and some corporate officers and sole proprietors can choose whether to be covered.

Coverage depends on whether you are legally an employee, not on what the employer calls you. A worker labeled an "independent contractor" may still be an employee for comp purposes, and the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) decides that question when it is disputed. If you are not sure how you are classified, our Boston workers' compensation lawyers can review your situation.

Workers' comp covers a personal injury "arising out of and in the course of" employment under M.G.L. c. 152, § 26. That includes sudden accidents, like a fall from a ladder, and conditions that build over time, like carpal tunnel from repetitive work or lung disease from chemical exposure. The injury does not have to happen at your usual workplace: driving to a job site for your employer, or running an errand your boss sent you on, can qualify.

Two causation rules decide many disputed claims. If a work injury combines with a condition you already had, it is covered as long as the work injury remains "a major but not necessarily predominant cause" of the disability (§ 1(7A)). A mental or emotional injury is covered only if work events were its "predominant contributing cause," and not if it arose mainly from a bona fide personnel action such as a transfer, demotion, or termination (§§ 1(7A), 29).

Section 26 also covers injuries "whether within or without the commonwealth." A worker hired in Massachusetts and hurt on a temporary job in another state can often claim here, although the other state may have jurisdiction too, and benefits paid in one state are credited in the other. Read more about repetitive stress injuries at work.

Tell your employer as soon as you can, in writing, with the date, place, and cause of the injury. M.G.L. c. 152, § 41 requires notice "as soon as practicable." Late notice does not automatically end a claim: under § 44, it is not a bar if the employer or insurer knew about the injury or was not harmed by the delay. A prompt written report still avoids that fight.

Once the injury has kept you from earning full wages for five or more calendar days, your employer must file a First Report of Injury (Form 101) with the DIA, the insurer, and you within seven calendar days, not counting Sundays and legal holidays (§ 6). Ask for your copy. If you are in a union, tell your steward as well.

If your employer refuses to file, you can file your own claim with the DIA. See what to do about denied workers' compensation claims.

Generally four years from the date you first became aware that your disability was connected to your job, under M.G.L. c. 152, § 41. For an occupational disease that develops slowly, that date can be years after the exposure began. Once benefits are paid or a claim is filed, the limit is extended for later benefits from the same injury.

The four-year window is for filing the claim. Waiting still creates problems: witnesses leave, video is erased, and early medical records are what connect the injury to the job. Contact us if you are close to the deadline or unsure when it started.

The insurer has 14 days from receiving the employer's report, or your written claim if that comes first, to start paying weekly benefits or send you a written denial that states its reasons (M.G.L. c. 152, § 7). If it misses that deadline, § 7 requires it to pay you a $200 penalty, and larger penalties go to the state if the delay reaches 60 or 90 days.

Checks arriving does not always mean the claim is accepted. Under § 8, an insurer can pay "without prejudice" for up to 180 days and stop within that period on seven days' written notice. If the insurer denies the claim or stops paying, you can file an Employee's Claim (Form 110) with the DIA along with supporting medical records. Our page on workers' compensation appeals walks through each stage.

You can still receive benefits. The Workers' Compensation Trust Fund, created by M.G.L. c. 152, § 65, pays approved claims against employers that were uninsured in violation of the law, generally when you are not entitled to comp in another state. The filing steps differ from an ordinary claim, and the Trust Fund requires proof of the employment relationship. An uninsured employer can also be sued directly, and in that case it loses defenses such as your own negligence (§ 66).

To find out whether your employer is insured, look for the required workplace notice naming its insurer, ask your employer, which must tell you, or use the DIA's online proof-of-coverage search. Ask us how to start a Trust Fund claim.

Not right away. Under M.G.L. c. 152, § 29, weekly benefits are not paid for an injury that keeps you out fewer than five calendar days. The first five days of incapacity are an unpaid waiting period.

Whether you are ever paid for those five days depends on how long you are out:

• Out five days but fewer than 21: benefits start on the sixth day, and the first five days are not paid.
• Out 21 days or more: benefits are paid back to the first day of incapacity, so the waiting period is covered after all.

Medical bills are covered from the first day regardless of the waiting period. Our page on lost wages explains how wage benefits are calculated.

Temporary total disability benefits under M.G.L. c. 152, § 34 pay 60 percent of your average weekly wage before the injury, for up to 156 weeks (three years).

The payment is capped at the state maximum rate in effect on the date of injury. For injuries from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, the maximum is $1,922.48 a week and the minimum is $384.50, per DIA Circular Letter 362. The DIA sets new rates for injuries on or after October 1, 2026. If your average weekly wage is below the minimum, you receive your full average weekly wage.

Example: a carpenter who averaged $1,500 a week before the injury would receive $900 a week. Your average weekly wage is usually based on the 52 weeks before the injury and can include overtime. Pay from a second job counts only if that employer is also covered by Massachusetts workers' comp. Read more about total disability benefits .

Yes. Partial disability benefits under M.G.L. c. 152, § 35 pay 60 percent of the difference between what you earned before the injury and what you are able to earn now. The weekly amount cannot exceed 75 percent of what you would receive for total disability.

Example: you earned $1,200 a week before the injury and can now earn $600 in a lighter job. The difference is $600, and 60 percent of that is $360 a week.

Section 35 benefits last up to 260 weeks (five years). That can extend to 520 weeks only for specific serious conditions, such as a permanent loss of 75 percent or more of a bodily function or sense, a permanently life-threatening condition, or a permanently disabling occupational disease. Time on § 34 and § 35 combined generally cannot exceed 364 weeks. The insurer may argue you can earn more than you actually do, so medical and vocational evidence matters. See our page on partial disability.

Permanent and total disability benefits under M.G.L. c. 152, § 34A pay two-thirds of your average weekly wage, within the state maximum and minimum rates, for as long as the permanent and total incapacity lasts. You do not have to use up your temporary benefits before applying, and these benefits come with an annual cost-of-living adjustment.

The question is whether the injury has left you permanently unable to earn wages, not whether any movement at all is possible. Medical opinions carry the claim, along with evidence about your age, education, training, and work history. Our permanent total disability page covers what these claims involve.

Yes. M.G.L. c. 152, § 36 pays a one-time amount for the permanent loss of function of a body part or sense, such as vision, hearing, or the use of a hand, arm, or leg, and for bodily disfigurement. It is paid on top of weekly benefits.

Loss-of-function amounts are a set multiple of the state average weekly wage on the date of injury, scaled to the percentage of function lost. Disfigurement payments are capped at $15,000, and disfigurement that is purely scarring qualifies only when it is on the face, neck, or hands. Learn more about loss of function and scarring benefits.

The insurer must pay for adequate and reasonable medical care for the work injury, including prescriptions, under M.G.L. c. 152, § 30. You cannot be charged a copay or deductible for covered treatment.

If the insurer uses a preferred provider arrangement, your first scheduled visit may have to be with a provider in that network. After that, you can choose your own treating doctor and switch once, and after a referral to a specialist you can change once within that specialty. The insurer can also send you to a doctor it chooses for an exam, but that doctor does not replace yours. Mileage to and from medical appointments is reimbursed at a rate the DIA sets. See our page on workers' comp medical benefits.

Workers' comp benefits are generally not taxable income under federal law (26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(1)), and Massachusetts generally follows the federal treatment.

You can receive workers' comp and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) at the same time if you qualify for both. Social Security will reduce your SSDI if the two together exceed 80 percent of your average earnings before you became disabled, and the portion of SSDI that is offset can become taxable. The programs use different definitions of disability, so approval for one does not guarantee the other. Our Social Security disability FAQs explain how SSDI works.

Workers' comp pays weekly death benefits to the worker's dependents and covers burial costs. Under M.G.L. c. 152, § 31, a surviving spouse receives two-thirds of the worker's average weekly wage, up to the state average weekly wage, plus $6 a week for each child under 18 (or older and unable to work because of a disability). If the spouse remarries, the spouse's payments end and each qualifying child receives $60 a week instead, up to what the spouse had been receiving. The statute sets an overall limit tied to 250 times the state average weekly wage, but benefits can continue past it for minor children and for dependents who are still not self-supporting, and survivors receive cost-of-living adjustments.

Section 33 separately pays reasonable burial expenses, up to 8 times the state average weekly wage. A claim for death benefits must be filed within four years of the death (§ 41).

Comp death benefits are only part of the picture when someone other than the employer caused the death. Our wrongful death FAQs explain the family's claim against those outside parties, and our page on workers' comp death benefits covers the benefit claim itself.

Usually not. If your employer is insured, workers' comp is your exclusive remedy against the employer under M.G.L. c. 152, § 24. The statute lets a worker keep the right to sue only by giving written notice at the time of hire, which is very rare. The bar also covers claims by your spouse and children for loss of companionship.

Workers' comp does not pay for pain and suffering. Two things can change the picture:

• Serious and willful misconduct. If the employer, or a person regularly entrusted with supervising the work, caused the injury through serious and willful misconduct, § 28 doubles the compensation.
• Someone other than your employer. Under § 15, you can sue a negligent third party, such as a driver who hit your work vehicle, a general contractor, or the maker of a defective machine, while still collecting comp.

Construction sites often involve several companies, and our construction accident FAQs explain those third-party claims.

You can challenge the denial at the Department of Industrial Accidents. A Massachusetts dispute moves through these stages:

• Conciliation. An informal meeting with a DIA conciliator to try to resolve the claim.
• Conference. A short proceeding before an administrative judge, who issues an order. Either side has 14 days to appeal the order (§ 10A).
• Hearing. A formal proceeding before the same judge, with sworn testimony, ending in a written decision.
• Reviewing Board, then the Appeals Court. Appeals on legal errors.

When a conference order is appealed and the dispute is medical, the DIA usually appoints an impartial physician under § 11A, and that doctor's report is treated as prima facie evidence at the hearing. That exam often decides the case. Missed appeal deadlines can end a claim, so talk to a lawyer about your denial early.

Often the insurer does. Under M.G.L. c. 152, § 13A, when an insurer contests a claim and then agrees to pay before a conference or hearing, or loses, it must pay your attorney a fee set by statute and adjusted every October. The amount depends on the stage the case reached.

When a case ends in a lump-sum settlement, the attorney's fee comes out of the settlement with DIA approval and can be no more than 20 percent if liability was accepted or established, or 15 percent if it was not. If liability was accepted or established, a lump sum does not end the insurer's duty to pay for medical care and vocational rehabilitation for the injury (§ 48). Read more about lump sum settlements.

No. M.G.L. c. 152, § 75B makes it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or otherwise discriminate against an employee for exercising rights under the workers' comp law or testifying in a comp proceeding. A court can order lost wages, suitable employment, reasonable attorney's fees, and other relief it finds necessary.

A separate section, § 75A, gives a worker who lost a job because of a compensable injury a hiring preference with that employer when a suitable job opens. A union contract or civil service rules can change how that preference works. Both claims are filed in Superior Court, not at the DIA. Call us if you were disciplined or let go after reporting an injury.

Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Glassman, founding attorney. Updated September 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Benefit rates change every October, and every claim turns on its own facts.