A lot of people confuse a personal injury lawsuit from a workers’ compensation claim, but the fact of the matter is that just about all employers in the state of Michigan utilize and are covered through workers compensation. Given this fact, there are a few exceptions when looking at who workers’ compensation covers. Essentially all federal workers are not covered by workers compensation because they are covered by other federal laws. Federal workers in Michigan include post office employees, military personal, and other federal government employees. Another exception includes both workers who are employed to fix or create interstate railroads and workers on navigable waters. As you can see, the Michigan workers compensation act applies to the majority of workers in the state.

Some very small employers are also exempt from the Michigan Workers Compensation Act. In order to qualify for exemption, you must be able to show that you have less than three full time employees or you can also prove that you don’t employ a worker for 35 hours a week for over 13 weeks out of the year.

Michigan law states that every employer who falls under the act is required to pay out benefits in the unfortunate situation of a work related injury. This can be accomplished in the form of insurance or what is called “self-insurance”. A majority of business owners simply buy an insurance policy from one of many companies offering such a plan, but some elect to use self-insurance which must be approved by the agency which is giving coverage. It is difficult to be considered self-insured since you need to show substantial financial wealth to make sure you have the funds to pay out benefits if an injury takes place.

If an employer neglects to purchase insurance or neglects to get approved as self-insured, the consequences can be quite severe. A fine of up to $1000 and jail time of 30 days – 6 months is possible for each day the employer is uninsured. Not only is the employer hit with fines and jail time, they leave themselves vulnerable to civil damages resulting from a work injury to one of their employees. The worker could then sue the employer for negligence and have the possibility of a much higher award than if the worker were to just get the pre-set amount for an injury. Workers compensation limits the benefits available to injured workers and certain injuries pay out set amounts. For example, a set amount of wage loss, medical benefits, and rehab benefits relate to the type of injury which was sustained at work whether the injury is a broken leg or finger that is lost. These set amounts limit the worker from suing the employer and collecting possibly larger amounts.  For additonal information about workers comp in Michigan, visit http://theclarklawoffice.com/practice-areas/workers-comp/index.html.  Workers are generally covered whenever an injury occurs at work during the course of employment. Traveling to work or home from work is not covered, but if the travel is required by the employer than you are covered.