Workers' Compensation Benefits

December 1, 2024

Massachusetts Updates PFML, UI and Workers’ Compensation for 2025

Massachusetts has announced several updates to its Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), Unemployment Insurance (UI), and Workers’ Compensation programs for 2025.

Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Updates

Contribution Rates: For employers with 25 or more employees, the total contribution rate remains at 0.88% of eligible wages. This rate is divided between employee payroll withholdings and employer contributions. Employers with fewer than 25 employees must remit contributions at 0.46% of eligible wages.

May 14, 2023

Understanding Workers’ Compensation Coverage

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Workers’ compensation protects employers and employees nationwide from financial loss in a workplace accident. However, there are some rules and exceptions that you must consider before making a claim. If you or someone you know has been hurt at work and are seeking workers’ compensation benefits, here’s what you need to know before you file.

What Workers’ Compensation Covers vs. What It Doesn’t

Workers’ compensation, or workman’s compensation, provides a variety of benefits when an employee suffers an injury while in the scope of their employment. Some benefits an employee could receive when faced with a workplace injury or illness include:

May 14, 2023

What to Expect After Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

You’ve likely heard about workers’ compensation, but you never expected to find yourself in a situation that warrants benefits. Of course, no one anticipates being hurt at work, but when it happens, you may be entitled to compensation from your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company. By law, workers’ compensation insurance covers medical expenses, some lost wages, and more, giving you and your family much-needed financial assistance and peace of mind in case of a work injury or illness.

Here’s what to expect after you file a workers’ compensation claim.

How to File a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits

June 13, 2020

Workers’ Compensation in the Age of COVID-19

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The novel coronavirus has wreaked havoc, especially when it comes to the workplace.

Businesses classified as nonessential have been forced to close their doors, while those considered essential have continued operation but under a new set of rules.

Along with other states, Massachusetts has established safety standards that workplaces must follow as they open to reduce the transmission of the virus among workers and customers. The safety standards include things like social distancing, hygiene, and cleaning and disinfecting.

Stricter rules apply to certain industries such as construction, manufacturing, hair salons, barbershops, pet grooming, and offices.

Regardless of social distancing, regular disinfecting, and other safety precautions, workers are at risk of contracting COVID-19 when they work. Essential workers, such as healthcare workers, grocery workers, and mass transit workers, have been at risk for months. Continue reading

July 31, 2019

Bill Would Shield Boston Workers From Retaliation for Injury Reports

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Immigrant workers and Massachusetts employee advocates are demanding the passage of a bill aiming to protect injured employees from workplace retaliation (including deportation threat) for reporting on-the-job injuries.

SD1182/HD2947 would limit companies’ ability to work their way out of paying Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits by reporting employees who are not U.S. citizens. It’s called An Act to Protect Injured Workers.

Our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys know that these benefits are critical to those hurt at work, allowing them coverage of medical bills and a portion of their lost wages when they can’t work due to job-related injury or illness. The concept is more than 100-years-old in Boston, with workers forfeiting their right to pursue legal action against employers for negligence resulting in work injury in exchange for employers agreeing to a no-fault compensation system wherein workers can receive help so long as they can show their injuries happened in the course and scope of employment. Continue reading

June 18, 2019

Construction Injuries and Opioid Addiction in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Massachusetts construction companies are focusing on the risks created by opioid use and addiction and the role these drugs play in work injuries.

The Massachusetts chapter of Associated General Contractors sponsored a statewide opioid awareness day on June 5, to draw attention to the impact the opioid crisis is having on the construction industry in New England. Workplace overdoses have increased by 25 percent each year for the last 5 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that unintentional overdose is now responsible for 5 percent of all workplace deaths, claiming nearly 300 lives each year.

Opioid addiction was declared a public health emergency in 2017, after the Centers for Disease Control reported opioid deaths surpassed motor-vehicle accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. However, construction workers face some of the highest risks. Construction workers are at six times greater risk that the average Massachusetts worker, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and now account for 25 percent of workplace opioid deaths.

AGC has produced a manual to help contractors identify and mitigate the use of opioids at construction sites. Common signs include constricted or “pinpoint pupils,” falling asleep or losing consciousness, slow or shallow breathing, choking or gurgling sounds, blue or cold skin, and limp extremities.

Our Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyers know many construction workers become addicted to painkillers while seeking legitimate treatment for work-related injuries. In some cases, a doctor or medical professional may have inappropriately prescribed potent narcotics for too long a period of time. In other cases, a medical professional may withhold or eliminate a patient’s access to pain medication, forcing injured or addicted workers to turn to street narcotics to manage the pain. Prescription opioids may include hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine, while illicit opioids most commonly include heroin and fentanyl.

January 14, 2019

Century of Progress Still Leaves Injured Boston Workers Fighting for Rights

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Media outlets are marking the 100th anniversary of Boston’s deadly molasses flood, which tore through the city’s North End, killing 21 and injuring another 150.

The Washington Post reports the rivets on a 50-foot-high storage tank began punching through the crisp January afternoon in staccato bursts. I dull roar followed as 2.3 million gallons of molasses engulfed the Boston waterfront in a tidal wave 25-feet high and 160-feet wide. Traveling at 35 miles an hour, the wave tore through the North End, crumbling small structures and knocking the firehouse off its foundation. Several city workers drowned while eating lunch outside, and a pair of 10-year-old boys were swept away in the flood.

Investigation in the aftermath revealed area residents had noticed the tank had started to leak through the summer months. Instead of repairing the tank, the company promptly painted it rust brown, making the leaking molasses virtually invisible. While the incident has reached legendary status primarily because of the sticky mess it left behind, Massachusetts injury lawyers know it was also a key incident that put the nation’s focus on corporate America’s obligation to the safety of workers and surrounding communities.

March 30, 2018

Are Opioid Overdoses Covered by Workers’ Compensation?

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Opioid addiction is a major public health problem in Massachusetts, and tragically, many people become hooked on these powerful painkillers as a result of a workplace accident.

The latest quarterly statistics on opioid-related overdose deaths among Massachusetts residents, as supplied by the state Department of Public Health, reveals there were 1,977 opioid-related deaths in 2017 – slightly lower than the 2,155 reported the previous year but more than the 1,768 reported a year earlier and still 62 percent higher than the number reported five years ago.

Many workers are prescribed these pain medications in the immediate aftermath of a work-related injury in Massachusetts and quickly become addicted. Without adequate pain management, they may die accidentally of a drug overdose. When an employee dies of an overdose as a result of consuming pain medications prescribed after a work injury, the question of compensation is unclear. Some states have tackled this question with mixed results. Continue reading

March 2, 2018

Third-Party Liability in Massachusetts Work-Related Injuries, Deaths

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Anytime someone is injured on-the-job in Massachusetts, the first course of action is typically a workers’ compensation claim. Pursuant to MGL c. 152 section 25A, most employers in the Commonwealth are required to purchase workers’ compensation that will provide coverage to employees who are injured at work or contract a job-related illness. This insurance provides no-fault coverage of reasonable and necessary medical treatment and lost wages (after the first five calendar days) or partial or full disability benefits and retaining for those workers who qualify.

However, you may an option to pursue something called third-party liability if another party – not your employer or co-worker – was fully or partially responsible for what happened. If you have grounds to pursue a third-party claim, note that your workers’ compensation insurer and/ or health insurance company may file a lien on whatever you are ultimately awarded. This is allowed so that injured workers’ don’t collect double recovery (i.e., your workers’ comp insurer paid your medical bills and then you are subsequently awarded damages for medical bills in your third-party lawsuit). But that doesn’t mean these cases aren’t worth pursuing. In fact, it’s usually a good idea because third party litigation will allow you to obtain coverage for losses not included in workers’ compensation benefits. These would include things like damages for pain and suffering, full lost wages (workers’ compensation will only pay up to 60 percent of gross average weekly wage for temporary total incapacity benefits for up to 156 weeks, etc.), loss of consortium (for your spouse) and sometimes punitive damages.

That’s not the only difference. While workers’ compensation claimants do not need to prove fault – only that the injury occurred in the course and scope of one’s employment – third party liability lawsuits are just like any other injury lawsuit in that you must prove negligence. In many cases these claims are against contractors or subcontractors, owners of the property on which you were injured (if different from your employer), manufacturers of defective or dangerous tools or motor vehicle operators. Our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys will help you review all of your legal options, identify possible defendants and give you a sense of what damages you can reasonably pursue. Continue reading

February 23, 2018

Establishing a Work-Related Mental Disorder or Psychiatric Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

When workers suffer from mental disorders or psychiatric injuries as a result of a job-related issue or incident, they may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. These benefits may include coverage of medical bills for therapy and medication. It could also cover a portion of lost wages if the condition leaves you unable to work. However, these claims are often treated with a high dose of skepticism by employers, insurers, doctors and even courts.

Seasoned Massachusetts work injury lawyers understand how crucial it is to have extensive knowledge of statutory and case law as well as how to assert our clients’ rights vigorously throughout the claims process.

Determining whether mental disorders or psychiatric injuries are work-related can be a tedious process and requires extensive documentation and medical assessment. Mental disorders and psychiatric injuries can be the result of job-related:

Stress
Bullying
Violence
Injury

In each of these scenarios, the condition may be compensable under Massachusetts workers’ compensation laws. Continue reading