Workers' comp · MI
Michigan workers' comp calculator
Michigan is one of the few states that starts from take-home pay, so two workers with the same gross wage can receive different checks.
Rules read on official Michigan pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 80%
- Average weekly wage after taxes, as the state defines it
- Weekly maximum
- $1,201
- from January 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- none
- no statutory floor
- Waiting period
- 7 days
- paid back past 13 days
Michigan pays weekly wage-loss benefits of 80% of the injured employee's after-tax average weekly wage (MCL 418.351). The after-tax figure is not your pay stub: it is read from the Workers' Disability Compensation Agency's 2026 benefit tables, which start from gross weekly wage and subtract federal tax, state tax and FICA according to your filing status and number of dependents on the date of injury. For 2026 injuries the weekly maximum is $1,201, 90% of the state average weekly wage rounded up to the next dollar (MCL 418.355); there is no general minimum. An after-tax wage above about $1,501 reaches the cap. No compensation is paid for an injury that keeps you out less than a week; benefits begin on the eighth day, and an incapacity of two weeks or more is paid from the date of injury (MCL 418.311). A worker whose after-tax wage is $950 receives $760 a week, $5,320 over seven weeks. Benefits last as long as the disability does.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Michigan
$880
$3,813 a month · 80% of the wage, tax-free
| 80% of $1,100 | $880 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,201 / none |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 30 / 0 |
| Total for the time off | $3,771 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Workers' Disability Compensation Agency (Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity) rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
Filing status and dependents change the check
Michigan's tables are the reason this state's calculator asks for an after-tax wage. Under MCL 418.313(2) the director publishes, each year, the average weekly wage converted to 80% of after-tax wage, and those 2026 weekly benefit tables are conclusive. A single filer with no dependents and a married worker with three children who both earn the same gross pay land on different lines, because the married worker's taxes are lower and the after-tax wage higher. The agency recommends that carriers apply only the single and married-filing-jointly statuses on their own, and use married-filing-separately only with evidence or the worker's agreement.
Once you have the after-tax wage, the arithmetic is simple. An assembler netting $950 a week receives $760. A tool-and-die maker netting $1,700 would compute to $1,360 but is held to $1,201. The 2026 maximum of $1,201.00 is 90% of the state average weekly wage of $1,333.88, adjusted to the next higher dollar (MCL 418.355(2); 2026 Weekly Benefit Tables).
The first week and the second
MCL 418.311 sets two thresholds. An injury that does not keep you from full wages for at least a week pays nothing; past a week, payments begin on the eighth day; and if incapacity reaches two weeks, the first week is added back. A cook netting $420 who is back after nine days receives $96; at sixteen days, $768, with no day left unpaid.
No floor, but a door after two years
There is no minimum weekly benefit in Michigan's general wage-loss rules, which matters for part-time and low-wage workers. The statute offers a different remedy: a worker whose rate is below 50% of the state average weekly wage may petition after two years of continuous disability for a one-time increase, up to that 50% mark, if age, education, training or experience show that earnings would have grown (MCL 418.356). The increase is reimbursed to the carrier by the second injury fund.
Michigan pays wage loss, not impairment ratings. Specific losses of a limb or digit are paid for a fixed number of weeks from MCL 418.361 (a hand 215 weeks, an arm 269), and partial wage loss after a return to work is 80% of the difference in after-tax wages. No benefits accrue for periods of imprisonment. The Michigan child support page covers how these benefits enter a support order.
The Michigan rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Michigan |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 80% of average weekly wage after taxes, as the state defines it |
| Weekly maximum | $1,201 |
| Weekly minimum | none |
| Applies to | injuries occurring in calendar year 2026 |
| Waiting period | 7 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 13 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. 80% of the employee's after-tax average weekly wage, not more than the maximum weekly rate under section 355 (MCL 418.351(1)); after-tax wage is read from the Agency's annual tables by gross wage, federal filing status and number of dependents (MCL 418.313(2)). source
Waiting period. No compensation for an injury that does not incapacitate the employee for at least 1 week; compensation begins on the eighth day, and if incapacity continues for 2 weeks or longer it is computed from the date of injury (MCL 418.311). source
Duration. Compensation is paid for the duration of the disability; no fixed week cap (MCL 418.351(1)). source
Permanent disability. Michigan pays wage-loss benefits rather than impairment-rated PPD; specific losses are paid at 80% of after-tax AWW for scheduled periods (e.g. thumb 65 weeks, hand 215 weeks, arm 269 weeks, leg 215 weeks) (MCL 418.361(2)). Partial wage loss is paid at 80% of the difference between pre- and post-injury after-tax wages (MCL 418.301). source
Worth knowing in Michigan
- The 2026 maximum of $1,201.00 is 90% of the state average weekly wage of $1,333.88, adjusted to the next higher dollar (MCL 418.355(2); 2026 Weekly Benefit Tables). source
- The weekly rate depends on tax filing status (single, married filing jointly, head of household, married filing separately) and number of dependents; the Agency publishes conclusive tables each year (MCL 418.313(2)). source
- A worker whose rate is below 50% of the SAWW may petition after 2 years of continuous disability for a one-time increase up to 50% of the SAWW, reimbursed from the second injury fund (MCL 418.356(1)). source
- Total and permanent disability is conclusively presumed for no more than 800 weeks from the date of injury (MCL 418.351(1)). source
- No compensation is owed for periods the employee cannot work because of imprisonment or commission of a crime (MCL 418.361(1)). source