Learn about the compensation you may be entitled to in Michigan for a work-related accident or sickness, as well as how the state has made it simpler for healthcare professionals and first responders to get COVID-19 benefits.
The Michigan workers’ compensation system provides benefits to eligible employees who suffer work-related injuries and illnesses, such as compensation for lost wages and the loss (or loss of use) of specific body parts, as well as medical treatment and special benefits for employees who are considered permanently and totally disabled. This article describes how the most essential workers’ compensation benefits in Michigan are calculated and how much you could earn.
COVID-19 Workers’ Compensation in Michigan
Can you claim workers’ compensation if you develop COVID-19 at work after being exposed to the new coronavirus? The answer will be heavily influenced by the type of your employment. Workers’ compensation in Michigan often covers illnesses induced by circumstances unique to your employer’s business—but not “ordinary diseases of life” to which the general public is exposed outside of work.
However, when some healthcare professionals and first responders get COVID-19, the state has made it simpler for them to qualify for benefits. If you are a “COVID-19 first response employee” and test positive or are diagnosed with COVID-19 on or after March 18, 2020, the state will infer that you have a work-related injury until your employer shows otherwise, according to emergency guidelines enacted by Governor Whitmer in October 2020.
The following employees are covered by the order:
physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, and respiratory therapists other employees in hospitals, medical care institutions, hospices, and nursing homes\s home healthcare workers\s firemen, police, and correctional officers; and\s EMTs and other ambulance personnel.
The emergency measures, which are in force until March 20, 2021, basically supplanted comparable safeguards provided by a prior presidential order. (That order was rendered unenforceable when the Michigan Supreme Court found that the state legislation conferring emergency powers on the governor was unconstitutional.)
Benefits for Wage Loss
If you are disabled as a consequence of a work-related accident or illness, you may be eligible for benefits that pay a part of your lost earnings. A handicap in Michigan is defined as any impairment in your “wage earning capability” in employment that is appropriate for your credentials and training (more on that below).
Wage-loss compensation will begin seven days after you have been unable to work. However, if your incapacity lasts at least 14 days, you will get compensation for the first seven days. Unless you’ve turned down a suitable employment offer, you may continue to receive benefits as long as your wage earning capability is impaired due to your impairment.
In Michigan, How Are Wage-Loss Benefits Calculated?
If you are unable to work and are eligible for wage-loss benefits, you will typically get 80% of your pre-injury earnings (based on the after-tax value of the average weekly wages in the 39 highest-paid weeks out of the 52 weeks before you were injured or became ill). However, these benefits are subject to a ceiling based on when you were wounded. The highest pay loss benefit for injuries occurring in 2020 is $934 per week. (The maximum rates for injuries that occurred in previous years may be seen on the Michigan State Average Weekly Wage Chart.)
If you are able to return to work in a restricted capacity, you may be eligible for 80% of the difference between your pre-injury earnings and your current wage earning capability. For example, if you were earning $800 per week after taxes before to your disability but can now only make $500, your wage-loss benefits would be $240 (80% of $300).
The Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency provides an online calculator to assist you in calculating your wage-loss benefit amount.
How Does Workers’ Compensation Determine Wage Earning Capacity Limits?
Your wage earning ability is defined under Michigan workers’ compensation law as the amount you earn or are able to earn in a job that is fairly available and appropriate given your education, training, experience, and abilities.
If your doctor has allowed you to work with limitations (such as limits on how much you can lift or how long you can stand) and your employer has supplied you with modified employment, your wage-loss benefits will be computed based on any drop in real earnings. Otherwise, you will be asked to find another work. If you made a good-faith attempt but were unable to locate employment that you are qualified for and that accommodates your limits, you may be entitled to the entire amount of wage-loss compensation.
Advantages of Specific-Loss
Benefits are handled differently if you’ve lost (or lost the functional use of) an eye, arm, leg, hand, finger, foot, or toe as a consequence of your injuries. In this situation, depending on which body part you’ve lost, you’ll get “particular loss benefits” equivalent to 80% of your after-tax average weekly earnings (subject to a minimum and maximum) for a certain number of weeks.
Even if you are able to work during that period, you will continue to receive these benefits for the specified number of weeks. However, if you continue to incur pay loss after the particular loss benefits have expired, you may be eligible for wage-loss benefits.
Total and Permanent Disability Benefits
If your work-related accident or disease has resulted in total blindness, incurable mental illness, the loss of two limbs, or the full and permanent loss of use of two limbs, you may be eligible for total and permanent disability compensation.
Benefits for complete and permanent disability begin at the same rate as wage loss for total incapacity; but, if you’re getting the maximum amount, you’ll be able to profit from rises in maximum rates (rather than being stuck with the cap in effect at the time of your injury). You will also be entitled to a minimum payment, and your workers’ compensation payments will not be reduced by any other benefits you get, such as short-term disability or a pension.
You will continue to be deemed completely and permanently handicapped for the first 800 weeks of receiving benefits, whether or not you work; after that, your benefits may be terminated or reduced if you work.
Other Michigan Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Other sorts of benefits provided under Michigan workers’ compensation include:
Medical attention. Workers’ compensation will pay for any reasonable and necessary medical treatment to treat your injury or sickness, including medical rehabilitation services.
Rehabilitation for the workforce. You are eligible for vocational rehabilitation benefits, which may include anything from simple improvements to your workplace to retraining and job-placement assistance.
Benefits and funeral expenditures. When an employee dies as a consequence of a work-related accident or sickness, the surviving dependents are entitled to death benefits for a period of 500 weeks (or longer if there are still minor dependent children at that point). These payments are computed at 80% of the dead worker’s pre-injury, after-tax average weekly salary, with a minimum and maximum. The family may additionally get up to $6,000 in compensation for acceptable funeral and burial costs.
Obtaining Assistance in Collecting Workers’ Compensation Benefits
If your employer’s insurance company denies your claim or fails to pay the benefits you feel you are entitled to, you should consult with a workers’ compensation attorney. A local lawyer with competence in this sector may assist you in a variety of ways, including locating a vocational expert to assist in determining the appropriate amount of your wage earning potential and salary loss.