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

Tell your employer in writing within 14 days (the date of the injury). File your claim within 3 years.

Temporary total disability (TTD) wage-loss benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,594.08 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 Minnesota, temporary total disability (TTD) pays part of your lost wages while you are totally unable to work because of a work injury. Your employer's insurer pays the benefits; the Department of Labor and Industry oversees claims and offers free help and mediation, and compensation judges at the Court of Administrative Hearings decide contested claims.

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 Minnesota

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.

Benefit estimate calculator

This estimate uses the rule in Minnesota's data: a share of your average weekly wage, up to the state maximum.

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

Gross pay per week, as the insurer would figure it. Include regular overtime and tips if they were part of your pay.

Enter your pay

We apply the rule in the law. 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

Minnesota
Other formats

Your checklist

Deadlines in Minnesota

Tell your employer
14 days
File your claim
3 years
Waiting period

TTD is not paid for the first 3 calendar days of disability.

All the details →

Weekly benefit in Minnesota

What it pays
Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum
$1,594.08 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum
$318.82 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027)
Minimum rule

If two-thirds of your weekly wage is less than $318.82, you receive $318.82 a week. If your actual weekly wage is less than $318.82, you receive your actual weekly wage.

Applies to
Injuries on or after October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 176.011 subd. 18, 176.101 subd. 1

Source: dli.mn.gov

All the details →

Who is your doctor in Minnesota?

Who chooses
You choose
Network
Certified managed care plan (CorVel, Genex or HealthPartners), if your employer or insurer uses one

Under most circumstances you may choose your own health care provider. The provider who directs and coordinates your care is your primary provider, and you can have only one at a time. If your employer or insurer uses a certified managed care plan (CorVel, Genex or HealthPartners), you may have to get treatment through the plan, unless it is an emergency, you choose a provider who has treated you at least twice in the past two years (or has a documented history of treating you), or you live or work too far from a plan provider (30 miles in the seven-county Twin Cities area, 50 miles elsewhere).

You can change primary providers once within the first 60 days after treatment for the injury begins without anyone's approval. After that, further changes must be approved by the insurer, the Department of Labor and Industry or a compensation judge (a referral by your doctor, or the doctor retiring or leaving practice, does not need approval). In a managed care plan, the plan's rules apply. You or the insurer can ask for a second opinion before non-emergency surgery, paid by the insurer.

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 176.135, 176.1351; Minn. R. 5221.0430

Source: dli.mn.gov

Who is covered in Minnesota

Size of employer

There is no minimum number of employees. Every employer, even one with a single part-time employee, generally must have workers' compensation insurance or be approved to self-insure.

Special rules
  • Household workers (nannies, housekeepers) in a private home: Not covered if they earn less than $1,000 in cash in a three-month period from a single household, unless they earned $1,000 or more from the same employer in a three-month period within the previous year.
  • Family farms: Workers on a family farm (as defined by law) and family members of the farmer are not covered.
Not covered
  • Sole proprietors and partners, and their spouses, parents and children
  • Workers on a family farm, and farmers exchanging work
  • Certain executive officers of small closely held corporations and managers of small LLCs (owning at least 25%), and their relatives
  • Casual workers whose work is not in the usual course of the employer's business
  • Independent contractors as defined by law
  • Household workers earning less than $1,000 in cash in three months from one household
  • Nonprofit associations paying $1,000 or less in wages a year
  • Railroad workers covered by the federal FELA
Contractors

Independent contractors as defined by Minnesota law are not covered, but employees of an independent contractor are. DLI has a page on how to tell an independent contractor from an employee.

Law: Minn. Stat. 176.043 and 181.723

Immigrant workers

Employees include minors, part-time workers and workers who are not citizens.

If your employer has no insurance

If your employer was not insured or self-insured, you still receive benefits from the state's Special Compensation Fund, which then seeks repayment from the employer. Employers that fail to insure face civil penalties, and willful failure is a gross misdemeanor.

Special Compensation Fund

Check your employer's insurance

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 176.041, 176.181 subd. 2, 176.183

Source: dli.mn.gov

If your claim is denied or delayed in Minnesota

First step

Talk with the claims adjuster and ask whether the insurer will reconsider. Call the DLI Workers' Compensation Help Desk (800-342-5354, press 3), which will direct you to a dispute-resolution specialist, or the Office of Workers' Compensation Ombudsman.

Form
Employee's Claim Petition

All the details →

Fired or punished for filing in Minnesota

It is illegal to fire you, threaten to fire you, or intentionally obstruct you for seeking workers' compensation benefits. Separately, an employer (with more than 15 full-time-equivalent employees) that refuses without reasonable cause to offer continued work within your physical limits when work is available can be liable for up to one year's wages, capped at $15,000.

The law
Minn. Stat. § 176.82
What you may get

Damages caused by the violation (including any reduction in your workers' compensation benefits), costs and reasonable attorney fees, plus punitive damages of up to three times the compensation benefits you are entitled to. These damages are not reduced by your workers' compensation benefits.

Where to file

A civil lawsuit in state district court.

Law: Minn. Stat. § 176.82

Source: revisor.mn.gov

Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Minnesota

Most workers' compensation attorneys offer a free consultation and may charge a fee only if they succeed in resolving a benefits dispute for you. The maximum fee is 20% of the first $275,000 of compensation awarded to you.

Besides medical care and TTD, Minnesota workers' compensation can pay temporary partial disability (two-thirds of lost earnings; for injuries since Oct. 1, 2018, up to 275 weeks and within 450 weeks after the injury), permanent partial disability for permanent loss of function, permanent total disability, vocational rehabilitation through a qualified rehabilitation consultant (QRC) including retraining up to 156 weeks, mileage and parking for medical visits, and dependency benefits plus burial expenses up to $15,000.

Free help in Minnesota

State agency

Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), Workers' Compensation Division

Phone
1-800-342-5354
Address
443 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul, MN 55155
Find an office
Look up your case

Free help

Good to know in Minnesota

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the only mental condition that can be covered without a physical injury; it must be diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist, psychologist or psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
  • Wage-loss benefits are tax-free, and benefits are adjusted each year after the third anniversary of the injury for injuries since Oct. 1, 2013.
  • The DLI employee guide is published in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali.

Changes in 2024–2026

From October 1, 2024, the weekly maximum became 108% of the statewide average weekly wage (it was 102%), raising it to $1,481.76; it is $1,536.84 from October 1, 2025, and $1,594.08 from October 1, 2026. Minnesota law now calls the former Office of Administrative Hearings the Court of Administrative Hearings, where compensation judges hear claim petitions.

Law: minimum $318.82

Questions about workers' comp in Minnesota

How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in Minnesota?

Report your injury to your supervisor as soon as possible. Unless your employer already knows about the injury, you must give written notice within 14 days after it happens, or no compensation is due until notice is given.

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

You do not file a claim form yourself; your employer files a First Report of Injury. If the insurer denies your claim or you need a judge to decide what you are owed, you must start an action (an Employee's Claim Petition) within 3 years after a written report of your injury was made to the Department of Labor and Industry, and no later than 6 years after the accident.

How much does workers' comp pay in Minnesota?

Temporary total disability (TTD) wage-loss benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,594.08 a week (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027).

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

Under most circumstances you may choose your own health care provider. The provider who directs and coordinates your care is your primary provider, and you can have only one at a time.

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

It is illegal to fire you, threaten to fire you, or intentionally obstruct you for seeking workers' compensation benefits.

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

Talk with the claims adjuster and ask whether the insurer will reconsider. Call the DLI Workers' Compensation Help Desk (800-342-5354, press 3), which will direct you to a dispute-resolution specialist, or the Office of Workers' Compensation Ombudsman.

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

Sources