Hurt at work in Wisconsin? Deadlines, weekly benefit and how to file
Tell your employer within 30 days. File your claim within 6 years (the date of injury or the date of the last compensation payment, whichever is later).
Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,375 a week in 2026.
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 Wisconsin, temporary total disability pays part of your lost wages during your healing period when a doctor says you cannot work because of a work injury or illness. Your employer's insurance carrier (or a self-insured employer) pays the benefits, and disputes are decided by administrative law judges of DWD's Worker's Compensation Division.
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 Wisconsin
Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent until you download, copy or print a document.
Deadline helper
Benefit estimate calculator
This estimate uses the rule in Wisconsin's data: a share of your average weekly wage, up to the state maximum.
Written notice to your employer
A letter that tells your employer, in writing, that you were hurt or made sick by your work.
Claim checklist: what to gather and do
A printable list of papers to keep and steps to take.
Deadlines in Wisconsin
- Tell your employer
- 30 days
- File your claim
- 6 years
- Waiting period
Wage benefits start on the 4th day of lost time after you leave work because of the injury.
Weekly benefit in Wisconsin
- What it pays
- Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
- Maximum
- $1,375 a week in 2026
- Minimum
- $20 a week in 2026
- Minimum rule
Average weekly earnings are counted as at least $30, so the weekly benefit is at least $20.
- Applies to
- Injuries in calendar year 2026
Law: Wis. Stat. §§ 102.11(1), 102.43
Source: dwd.wisconsin.gov
Who is your doctor in Wisconsin?
- Who chooses
- You choose
When your employer knows of the injury, it must offer you your choice of any doctor, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse or podiatrist licensed and practicing in Wisconsin. In an emergency, the employer may arrange treatment first; you then get your choice as soon as possible. If the employer does not offer you a choice, your right to choose is not restricted.
You have the right to a second choice of practitioner by notifying your employer or its insurance carrier. Any third choice, or an out-of-state practitioner, needs mutual agreement with the carrier. You do not need approval for emergency care, for another practitioner in the same partnership or clinic, or for a practitioner your doctor refers you to.
Law: Wis. Stat. § 102.42(2)-(3)
Source: dwd.wisconsin.gov
Who is covered in Wisconsin
- Size of employer
Almost every Wisconsin employer must have worker's compensation insurance: employers (other than farmers) that usually have 3 or more employees, and employers with fewer than 3 employees once they pay $500 or more in wages in a calendar quarter. Coverage starts on your first day of work.
- Special rules
- Employers with fewer than 3 employees: Must have coverage starting the 10th day of the first month after a calendar quarter in which they paid wages of $500 or more.
- Farmers: Farmers must have coverage if they employ 6 or more employees on 20 or more days in a calendar year.
- Not covered
- Domestic servants
- Some farm employees
- Volunteers, including volunteers of non-profit organizations who receive no more than $10 a week in money or other things of value
- Qualifying, certified religious sect members
- Federal employees, interstate railroad workers, seamen and longshore workers are covered by federal law, sometimes in addition to state law
- Contractors
Whether you are an employee or an independent contractor is decided by the law, not by what your employer calls you. DWD has a worker classification page and an independent contractor guide for employers.
- If your employer has no insurance
If you were hurt working for an illegally uninsured employer, you can file a claim with the Uninsured Employers Fund (UEF). If the claim is compensable, the UEF pays benefits as though the employer had been insured. Call 608-266-3046 to ask for the UEF claim application. You will hear about the status of your claim within 14 days after the Division receives your completed application.
Law: Wis. Stat. §§ 102.04, 102.07, 102.80, 102.81
Source: dwd.wisconsin.gov
If your claim is denied or delayed in Wisconsin
- First step
A denial means the carrier will not pay voluntarily. If you do not have an attorney, your claim first goes to the Division's free informal alternative dispute resolution: a specialist reviews the issues and medical information and contacts you and the insurer to try to settle it.
Fired or punished for filing in Wisconsin
An employer may not discriminate or threaten to discriminate against you because you claimed or tried to claim worker's compensation. An employer that, without reasonable cause, refuses to rehire you after a work injury when suitable work within your limits is available is also liable to you. Firing you during the healing period because of the work injury has been treated as a refusal to rehire.
- The law
- Wis. Stat. § 102.35(2)-(3)
- What you may get
For an unreasonable refusal to rehire, the employer must pay the wages you lost during the refusal, up to one year's wages, in addition to your other benefits. Discrimination because of a claim also carries a forfeiture of $50 to $500 paid to the state.
- Where to file
File an Application for Hearing with the Worker's Compensation Division.
Law: Wis. Stat. § 102.35(2)-(3)
Source: dwd.wisconsin.gov
Lawyers' fees and other benefits in Wisconsin
A fee for collecting a worker's compensation claim must be authorized by the Division and may not be more than 20% of the amount awarded or settled (including all attorney fees). If liability is admitted, the amount is not disputed and no hearing or appeal is needed, the fee may not be more than 10% and no more than $250.
Wisconsin worker's compensation also pays medical care and mileage, temporary partial disability, permanent partial and permanent total disability, vocational rehabilitation (retraining), and death and burial benefits.
Free help in Wisconsin
State agency
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Worker's Compensation Division
- Phone
- 608-266-1340
- Address
- P.O. Box 7901, Madison, WI 53707-7901
Free help
Good to know in Wisconsin
- The Worker's Compensation Division schedules hearings only by written letter; DWD has warned of e-mail scams that fake hearing notices (DWD, 2026).
- Once your claim is established it usually stays open for 6 years from the date of injury or last payment, so keep your medical and payment records (DWD).
- If you receive both worker's compensation and Social Security disability, the law requires you to tell the insurance carrier (DWD).
Changes in 2024–2026
2025 Wisconsin Act 33 moved worker's compensation hearings from the Department of Administration's Office of Worker's Compensation Hearings back to DWD's Worker's Compensation Division, effective January 1, 2026. The maximum weekly TTD benefit rose from $1,296 (2024 injuries) and $1,326 (2025) to $1,375 for 2026 injuries. 2023 Wisconsin Act 213 (effective March 24, 2024) raised permanent partial disability rates and added advanced practice registered nurses by name.
Questions about workers' comp in Wisconsin
How long do I have to tell my employer about a work injury in Wisconsin?
Tell your supervisor right away, even if the injury seems minor. The law says your employer (or an officer, manager or representative named on the workplace poster; if none is named, any supervisor) must actually receive notice within 30 days after the injury, or within 30 days after you knew or should have known your condition was related to your work.
How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in Wisconsin?
Your employer reports your injury to its insurance carrier, and the carrier reports it to the Worker's Compensation Division; you do not need to file a claim form for the carrier to start paying.
How much does workers' comp pay in Wisconsin?
Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $1,375 a week in 2026.
Can I choose my own doctor for a work injury in Wisconsin?
When your employer knows of the injury, it must offer you your choice of any doctor, chiropractor, psychologist, dentist, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse or podiatrist licensed and practicing in Wisconsin.
Can my employer fire me for filing a workers' comp claim in Wisconsin?
An employer may not discriminate or threaten to discriminate against you because you claimed or tried to claim worker's compensation.
What if my workers' comp claim is denied in Wisconsin?
A denial means the carrier will not pay voluntarily. If you do not have an attorney, your claim first goes to the Division's free informal alternative dispute resolution: a specialist reviews the issues and medical information and contacts you and the insurer to try to settle it.
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