Hurt at work in Massachusetts? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file

Report the injury or illness to your employer as soon as you can. File your claim within 4 years.

Temporary total incapacity benefits (Section 34) can pay 60% of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $2,007.20 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027).

Your employer's insurer, not the state, usually decides first. If they deny or delay, the free help listed here can explain your options.

In Massachusetts, temporary total incapacity benefits replace part of your wages while your work injury or illness keeps you from working. Your employer's workers' compensation insurer pays or denies the claim, and disputes go through conciliation and then an administrative judge at the Department of Industrial Accidents.

What are my deadlines?How much will I get?Who is my doctor?Claim denied?

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Deadlines are strict. If you are near one, call the state agency or free help today.

Free tools for Massachusetts

Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent until you download, copy or print a document.

Deadline helper

Worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.

If you are not sure of the exact day, use the earliest day you think it could be.

Enter the date of injury

We add the number from the law to your date. Nothing is saved.

Written notice to your employer

A letter that tells your employer, in writing, that you were hurt or made sick by your work.

Where the reply should be sent.

Required when you mail it. Not needed if you hand it in person.

In your own words, in English. Keep it short and factual. Do not guess why it happened.

It goes into the letter as you type it.

Other formats

Claim checklist: what to gather and do

A printable list of papers to keep and steps to take.

What you already have

Massachusetts
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Massachusetts

Tell your employer

Report the injury or illness to your employer as soon as you can.

File your claim
4 years
Waiting period

Weekly benefits are not paid for the first 5 full or partial calendar days you cannot work; payment starts on the 6th day.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Massachusetts

What it pays
60% of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum
$2,007.20 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum
$401.44 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

If your average weekly wage is less than the minimum rate, your weekly benefit equals your full average weekly wage. Otherwise you receive 60% of your average weekly wage, up to the maximum.

Law: $401.44 for injuries from October 1, 2026

Applies to
Injuries on or after October 1, 2026 (the maximum and minimum change every October 1 and apply by date of injury)

Law: M.G.L. c. 152, §§ 1(1), 1(10), 34, 35

Source: mass.gov

We do not offer a calculator for Massachusetts: its rule has parts that a simple estimate cannot show. Read the rule above and ask the state agency.

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Who is your doctor in Massachusetts?

Who chooses
It depends: network and choice rules both apply
Network
Insurer's preferred provider arrangement (PPO), if any, for the first visit

For your first visit, your employer may choose the doctor or hospital, within the insurer's preferred provider arrangement if there is one. After that first visit, you have the right to choose your own treating doctor. In an emergency, get care right away from any provider.

After the first appointment you can pick a doctor other than one provided by the insurer and switch to another doctor once. If your doctor refers you to a specialist, you can change once to a different provider in that specialty. More changes need the insurer's or a judge's agreement. The insurer can send you to its own doctor for an evaluation.

Law: M.G.L. c. 152, § 30

Source: mass.gov

Who is covered in Massachusetts

Size of employer

All employers must carry workers' compensation insurance for their employees, no matter how few hours they work, including family members who are the only employees.

Special rules
  • Domestic service workers: Coverage is required only if the domestic worker works at least 16 hours a week for the employer.
Not covered
  • Seamen in interstate or foreign commerce and others covered by federal compensation laws
  • Commission-only real estate and consumer-goods salespeople (outside retail stores) with a written contract saying they are not employees for federal tax purposes
  • Taxi drivers who lease their cabs for a fee not tied to fares and are not employees for federal tax purposes
  • True independent contractors (under Massachusetts law, workers are presumed to be employees)
Contractors

Workers are presumed to be employees. An employer that treats you as an independent contractor must show that you work free from its direction and control, that the work is outside the usual course of its business, and that you have your own independent business doing that kind of work. Questions can go to the DIA Office of Legal Counsel at 857-321-7423.

Immigrant workers

Most workers are covered by workers' compensation insurance regardless of their job, work hours, work status, immigration status or how they are paid.

If your employer has no insurance

If your employer has no workers' compensation insurance, you can file a claim against the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund with the DIA.

Workers' Compensation Trust Fund (WCTF)

Check your employer's insurance

Law: M.G.L. c. 152, §§ 1(4), 25A, 65

Source: mass.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in Massachusetts

First step

If the insurer denies your claim, you can call the DIA Public Information Office (free) with questions, then file an Employee's Claim with the DIA, with at least one supporting document such as a medical report, and send a copy to the insurer.

Form
Employee's Claim (Form 110)

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Massachusetts

Your employer may not fire you, refuse to hire you, or discriminate against you in any other way because you used a right under the workers' compensation law, or because you testified or cooperated in a workers' compensation proceeding (unless you knowingly took part in a fraudulent proceeding).

The law
M.G.L. c.
What you may get

Lost wages, suitable employment, reasonable attorney fees, and other relief the court finds necessary.

Where to file

File a lawsuit in the Superior Court for the county where the violation happened.

Law: M.G.L. c. 152, § 75B

Source: malegislature.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Massachusetts

Attorney fees are set by law; they are the only fees an attorney can charge for workers' compensation services. When you win at certain stages, the insurer pays a set fee to your attorney (the amounts are adjusted every October 1). In a lump-sum settlement the fee comes from the settlement: no more than 15% if liability was never accepted or found, and no more than 20% after it was. If you lose, an attorney can charge you only for very specific expenses.

Law: M.G.L. c. 152, § 13A

Besides medical care and temporary total incapacity, Massachusetts pays partial incapacity benefits (Section 35), permanent and total incapacity benefits (Section 34A, two-thirds of your wage with yearly cost-of-living adjustments), one-time payments for permanent loss of function or disfigurement (Section 36), survivor benefits, burial expenses, and vocational rehabilitation services.

Free help in Massachusetts

State agency

Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA)

Phone
1-800-323-3249
Address
Lafayette City Center, 2 Avenue de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111
Find an office
Look up your case

Free help

Good to know in Massachusetts

  • The DIA Injured Workers' Guide is available in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Arabic and French (DIA).
  • During the first 180 days the insurer may pay without accepting liability, and may stop or reduce payments with 7 days' written notice; after that it needs a judge's permission.
  • If you return to work and have to stop again because of the same injury within 28 days, the insurer must resume benefits if it accepted or was assigned liability.

Changes in 2024–2026

For injuries on or after October 1, 2026, the maximum weekly benefit is $2,007.20 and the minimum rate $401.44 (Circular Letter 364), up from $1,922.48 and $384.50 for injuries from October 1, 2025 (Circular Letter 362). The DIA issued a revised workers' compensation notice-to-employees poster (Circular Letter 360, 2024) and a 2026 mileage reimbursement rate (Circular Letter 363).

Questions about workers' comp in Massachusetts

How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in Massachusetts?

A claim for compensation must be filed within 4 years from the date you first became aware that your disability was related to your work.

How much does workers' comp pay in Massachusetts?

Temporary total incapacity benefits (Section 34) can pay 60% of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $2,007.20 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027).

Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in Massachusetts?

For your first visit, your employer may choose the doctor or hospital, within the insurer's preferred provider arrangement if there is one.

Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in Massachusetts?

Your employer may not fire you, refuse to hire you, or discriminate against you in any other way because you used a right under the workers' compensation law, or because you testified or cooperated in a workers' compensation proceeding (unless you knowingly took part in a fraudulent proceeding).

What if my workers' comp claim is denied in Massachusetts?

If the insurer denies your claim, you can call the DIA Public Information Office (free) with questions, then file an Employee's Claim with the DIA, with at least one supporting document such as a medical report, and send a copy to the insurer.

Not about a work injury?

Not about a work injury? Unpaid wages → Wage Claim Map · Hurt in a car crash → Accident Claim Map · A medical bill → Medical Bill Map · Unemployment benefits → Unemployment Claim Map · Other problems → robinclaim.com

Nearby states

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