How Long Does Workers’ Comp Last in Massachusetts?

Workers’ comp in Massachusetts lasts anywhere from 156 weeks to the rest of your life, depending on how severely the injury limits your ability to work. Temporary total incapacity payments run up to 156 weeks (three years), partial incapacity payments last up to 260 weeks (about five years) with a possible extension to 520 weeks, and permanent and total incapacity payments have no time limit. Medical coverage runs on its own track and can continue long after the weekly checks stop.

Temporary Total Incapacity: Up to 156 Weeks

If a workplace injury leaves you completely unable to work, you qualify for temporary total incapacity benefits under Section 34 of Chapter 152. Weekly payments equal 60 percent of your pre-injury average weekly wage, capped at the state maximum of $1,922.48 effective October 1, 2025. If your average weekly wage falls below the state minimum, you receive your full wage instead.¹²

The hard ceiling is 156 weeks. The clock does not have to run continuously. If you return to work and later relapse, the weeks you were out before still count toward your 156-week total.³

Payments do not start on day one. Under Section 7, you must be out of work for at least five calendar days before the insurer’s payment obligation begins. If your disability stretches beyond 21 days, the insurer goes back and pays for those first five days as well.

Section 34 benefits end when you hit the 156-week cap or when a physician determines you have recovered enough to perform some kind of work. From there you may shift to partial incapacity benefits, or, if the condition worsens, to permanent and total incapacity benefits.

Partial Incapacity: 260 Weeks, Sometimes 520

When you can work but earn less because of your injury, Section 35 partial incapacity benefits fill part of the gap. The weekly payment equals 60 percent of the difference between your pre-injury earnings and what you are now capable of earning, capped at 75 percent of what you would have received as temporary total incapacity.⁴

The standard limit is 260 weeks, roughly five years. For workers with lasting serious injuries, the law allows an extension to 520 weeks (ten years) if the insurer agrees or an administrative judge finds that the injury caused any of the following:

A permanent loss of 75 percent or more of a bodily function or sense listed in Section 36 (covering things like vision, hearing, and use of limbs)
A permanently life-threatening physical condition from the workplace injury
A permanently disabling occupational disease that is physical in nature and cause

The extension is not automatic. It requires either the judge’s finding or a written agreement with the insurer. Once you exhaust the 260-week or 520-week limit, weekly wage-replacement under this section ends.⁴

Permanent and Total Incapacity: No Time Limit

For the most severe injuries, the ones that permanently remove any realistic chance of returning to work, Section 34A provides weekly benefits with no cap on duration. Payments equal two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly wage, subject to the same maximum and minimum rates that apply to other benefit types. In practical terms, payments can continue for the rest of your life as long as your condition does not improve.⁵

One detail catches people off guard. Section 34A benefits do not begin until you have exhausted your payments under both Section 34 (temporary total) and Section 35 (partial incapacity). You cannot skip straight to permanent and total benefits; you work through the earlier categories first.⁵

Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments

Because Section 34A benefits can last decades, Section 34B protects their value through annual cost-of-living adjustments. Starting on the first October 1 that falls at least 24 months after your injury date, your weekly benefit is recalculated each year based on the change in the statewide average weekly wage. The annual increase is capped at the lesser of the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast region or 5 percent, and your adjusted benefit can never exceed three times your original base benefit. The insurer handles the adjustment automatically. No increase will be paid if it would reduce any Social Security benefits you receive.⁶

Medical Benefits Continue Separately

Medical coverage is not tied to the week counts above. Under Section 30, the insurer must pay for treatment that is adequate, reasonable, and necessary for your work-related condition, and that obligation continues even after your weekly checks stop. You could receive medical care related to a workplace injury years or decades later.⁷

Insurers use utilization reviews to challenge whether a proposed treatment meets the necessity standard. If your insurer denies a specific treatment, you can dispute that decision through the Department of Industrial Accidents. Insurers cannot deny coverage simply because a cheaper alternative exists if your doctor determines the recommended treatment is what your condition requires.

Vocational rehabilitation through the Office of Education and Vocational Rehabilitation runs for however long the approved retraining program takes, with no fixed week count. Completing the program ends vocational services but does not affect your medical coverage or wage replacement.⁸

How Long Death Benefits Last

If a workplace injury or illness proves fatal, Section 31 pays weekly benefits to the worker’s dependents. A surviving spouse receives two-thirds of the deceased worker’s average weekly wage, capped at the statewide average weekly wage ($1,922.48 as of October 1, 2025) with a floor of $110 per week, plus an additional $6 per week per dependent child. These payments continue for the surviving spouse as long as they remain unmarried.⁹²

If the surviving spouse remarries, payments to the spouse terminate. Each dependent child then receives $60 per week, with the total capped at what the spouse had been receiving. Children qualify if they are under 18, or over 18 if physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, or if they are full-time students who qualify as dependents under the Internal Revenue Code.⁹

When Benefits End Before the Cap

The statutory ceilings describe the longest your benefits can last. In practice, insurers have specific tools to cut payments off sooner, and settlements can close a claim at any point.

Insurer Discontinuance

During the first 180 calendar days of disability, the insurer can stop or modify payments as long as it gives you and the Division of Administration at least seven days’ written notice stating the specific grounds and your right to file a claim with the Department of Industrial Accidents.¹⁰

After day 180, insurers face tighter restrictions. They can only stop or reduce weekly payments under limited circumstances:

An order or decision from an administrative judge, the Reviewing Board, or a court
Your written consent on a department-prescribed form filed with the department
Your return to work. If you leave that job within 28 days because the disability makes the work impossible, and you notify the employer and insurer within 21 days by certified letter, payments must resume
Medical evidence from your treating physician or an impartial examiner showing you can return to your prior job or a suitable alternative, combined with a written job offer from your employer

The insurer cannot simply decide you look fine. It needs medical reports and, in many cases, a concrete job offer to justify cutting off benefits.¹⁰

Lump Sum Settlements

At any point in the claim, you and the insurer can agree to resolve the case through a lump sum settlement under Section 48. Accepting a lump sum can close your claim entirely, which is why the review process matters. If you are not represented by an attorney, an administrative judge must approve the settlement as being in your best interest. Even with counsel, a conciliator or judge reviews the agreement for completeness.¹¹

If liability has already been accepted or established by a judge, a lump sum settlement cannot eliminate your right to medical benefits or vocational rehabilitation for that injury. If you settle before liability is formally established, the agreement can close out medical coverage. Even then, you can reopen a claim for medical benefits if your condition substantially deteriorates in a way that was not foreseeable when you settled, provided you file within one year of discovering the connection between the deterioration and your employment.¹¹

Don’t Miss the Filing Window

None of these benefit periods matter if you miss the deadline to file. Under Section 41, you have four years from the date you become aware of the connection between your injury or illness and your employment to file a claim with the insurer. For fatal injuries, the four-year clock starts from the date of death. If your insurer sends you a Form 104 denial, you have four years from receiving that denial to appeal.¹²

The awareness trigger matters most for occupational diseases and repetitive-stress injuries that develop gradually. Your four years start when you first learn, or reasonably should have learned, that your condition is work-related, not necessarily when symptoms first appeared.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 34
2
Mass.gov. Minimum and Maximum Compensation Rates
3
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 34 – Total Incapacity; Compensation
4
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 35 – Partial Incapacity; Compensation
5
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 34A – Permanent and Total Incapacity; Compensation
6
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 34B
7
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 – Workers’ Compensation
8
Mass.gov. Office of Education and Vocational Rehabilitation
9
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 31
10
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 8
11
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I Title XXI Chapter 152 Section 48
12
Mass.gov. Statute of Limitations