Michigan Workers' Compensation Insurance

Michigan's threshold has two paths: a private employer must carry coverage if it regularly employs one or more workers who work 35 or more hours per week for 13 or more consecutive weeks, or if it has three or more employees at any time regardless of hours. Agricultural employers follow the 35-hour/13-week test with three or more employees, and household employers must cover domestic workers who work 35+ hours per week for 13+ weeks. All public employers must carry coverage regardless of size. See the Workers' Disability Compensation Agency's insurance requirements page.

Michigan scrutinizes 1099 relationships closely, particularly in construction, and a business that misclassifies a worker as an independent contractor can be treated as that worker's statutory employer if the worker is later injured. General contractors should collect a current certificate of insurance from every subcontractor before work begins, since a subcontractor's uninsured employees can become the general contractor's liability under the Worker's Disability Compensation Act.

Injured workers receive necessary medical treatment with no dollar cap. Wage-loss (disability) benefits are paid at 80% of the worker's after-tax average weekly wage, which in practice runs close to 60% of gross pay, and are capped at 90% of the statewide average weekly wage regardless of how high the worker's actual earnings were. Michigan publishes an updated weekly benefit rate table each year. Permanent disability and death benefits are calculated separately under the Act's benefit schedule.

Michigan's small-business base includes contractors and trades, manufacturing and light industrial suppliers, restaurants and hospitality, salons and personal-care businesses, and professional service firms, all of which typically need coverage once they cross the state's employee thresholds.