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MICHIGAN PERSONAL INJURY WORKERS' COMP SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY LAWYERS BLOG
WORKERS' COMP LAWYER
Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors Last updated December 06, 2018
In Michigan, employers must carry workers' compensation insurance, which provides wage replacement, medical, and rehabilitation benefits to employees who are injured or fall ill because of their work, regardless of fault. In turn, the employee gives up the right to file a lawsuit against the employer and is limited to certain benefits. If you've been injured in Michigan, you should know your rights and responsibilities for filing a workers' compensation claim.
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Below is a table showing important aspects of Michigan's workers' compensation laws, including benefits and key timelines.
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Important Deadlines:
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90 days to give notice of work-related injury to the employer (Sec. 381);
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2 years to file a claim with the employer (Sec. 381)
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Some Types of Benefits
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Health care: coverage for all reasonable and necessary medical care; bills sent directly to the employer/insurance carrier (Sec. 315)
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Wage loss: payments equal to a percentage of wages lost as a result of temporary or permanent disability (Sec. 301(7-9); 351; 361(3))
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Specific loss: compensation for specific losses such as an arm or thumb (Sec. 361(2))
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Vocational rehabilitation: up to two years of coverage for the cost to modify employee's working conditions, help find new employment, pay for training (Sec. 319)
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Death benefits: payments to surviving dependent(s) and up to $6,000 in funeral expenses if the employee dies from work-related injury or illness (Sec. 321, 345, 415)
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY
​​Requirements for Disability Benefits
Eligibility requirements for SSDI and SSI are very specific. For SSDI, the threshold qualification involves the number of "work credits" the applicant has accumulated prior to becoming disabled. Work credits are based on the applicant's earnings. Each time the applicant earns a certain amount of wages or self-employment income, he or she receives one work credit (as of 2013, it takes $1,160 of earnings to receive one work credit).
A maximum of four work credits can be earned in any given calendar year. To be eligible for SSDI benefits, the applicant must have a total of 40 credits, and 20 of these must have been earned in the 10-year period leading up to the application date.
To receive SSDI, the applicant must also be "disabled." SSA considers people to be disabled if they cannot work in their field or adjust to another field of employment, due to a severe medical impairment. An applicant may qualify based on a single impairment, or a combination. Either way, the inability to work must be complete, and long-term.
For SSI, eligibility is based on income level, not work credits. An applicant must have an income level below a certain amount known as the federal benefit rate, or "FBR" (as of 2013, the FBR is $710 per month). Calculating the FBR is complex. For example, only a portion of income earned by working will be used in the calculation. At the same time, FBR will include the value of any in-kind services the applicant receives, such as free rent or meals.
PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER
By David Goguen, J.D.
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​In plain English, if after another person's careless or intentional act causes you injury, and you want to ask a court for a civil remedy for your losses, you have three years to get the initial documentation (the "complaint" and other required paperwork) filed in court, and the "clock" typically starts on the date of the underlying accident or incident that caused the injuries.
So, Michigan's three-year deadline applies to almost all conceivable types of personal injury lawsuits, whether the case is driven by the liability principle of "negligence" (which applies to most accidents) or intentional tort (which applies to civil assault and battery and other purposeful conduct).
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Michigan has identified a variety of different factual scenarios that might serve to delay the running of the statute of limitations "clock," or pause the clock after it has started to run, effectively extending the three-year filing deadline set by section 600.5805. Here are some examples of circumstances that are likely to modify the standard timeline:
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If the injured person is "insane" at the time of the underlying accident, he or she will have one year to file the lawsuit once the period of "insanity" is over. (Michigan Compiled Laws section 600.5851)
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If the injured person was under the age of 18 at the time of the underlying accident, he or she will have one year to file the personal injury lawsuit after turning 18. (Michigan Compiled Laws section 600.5851)
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if the person who allegedly caused the injury (the defendant) leaves the state of Michigan at some point after the underlying accident, and before the lawsuit can be filed, and is gone for more than two months, the period of absence likely won't be counted as part of the two years, as long as there is no way for the plaintiff to "serve" the defendant with the lawsuit during the absence (Michigan Compiled Laws section 600.5853).
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