Workers' comp · WI
Wisconsin workers' comp calculator
Wisconsin publishes its maximum as a wage, not as a benefit, and keeps a much lower ceiling for permanent partial disability.
Rules read on official Wisconsin pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 66.67%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,375
- from January 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- none
- no statutory floor
- Waiting period
- 3 days
- paid back past 7 days
Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development (DWD), Worker's Compensation Division, pays temporary total disability (TTD) at two thirds of the employee's wage, up to a maximum set for the year of injury. For injuries on or after January 1, 2026, its maximum wage and rate chart lists a maximum weekly wage of $2,062.50 for temporary, permanent total and death benefits, which gives a weekly rate of $1,375, or $229.17 a day. The chart lists no minimum weekly rate. A worker earning $1,250 a week receives $833; earnings above about $2,062 add nothing. The first 3 days of lost time are not compensable and payment begins on the fourth day, but if the disability runs beyond 7 calendar days, those three days are paid retroactively. Insurers usually send the first check within 14 days of the last day worked. Permanent partial disability uses a separate, far lower ceiling.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Wisconsin
$733
$3,178 a month · 66.67% of the wage, tax-free
| 66.67% of $1,100 | $733 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,375 / none |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 30 / 0 |
| Total for the time off | $3,143 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Worker's Compensation Division rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
A maximum written as a wage
The DWD Maximum Wage and Rate Chart (WKC-9572-P) starts from the maximum weekly wage, $2,062.50 for 2026, and derives everything else from it: two thirds gives the weekly rate of $1,375, a sixth of that the daily rate of $229.17, fifty weeks of wages the maximum annual wage, four years of it the death benefit cap. A paper mill technician in Green Bay earning $2,400 is treated as earning the maximum wage and receives $1,375. The chart carries an April 1, 2026 column as well, unchanged for TTD.
The PPD ceiling is a third of the TTD ceiling
The same chart gives a maximum weekly wage for permanent partial disability of only $681.00, producing a PPD rate of $454.00 a week from April 1, 2026 ($446.00 for injuries from January 1). So a worker who receives $1,375 while healing may see the weekly amount fall by two thirds once the permanent rating is paid. Scheduled losses are rated as a percentage of loss of use under section 102.52, with the minimum ratings of rule DWD 80.32 for amputations, lost motion and surgeries, and a worker injured before age 27 is presumed to have the maximum PPD rate.
Four days to get paid, eight to get the first three
The waiting period includes Saturday, and Sunday when you normally work Sundays. A foundry molder in Milwaukee earning $1,250 who misses six days receives $357, for days four to six. Off nine days, the first three are picked up retroactively: $1,071. There is no floor: a student worker in Madison earning $240 receives $160.
Claims and the Uninsured Employers Fund
Insured employers report injuries causing more than three days of disability to their carrier within seven days. A claim usually stays open six years from the injury or the last payment. The Uninsured Employers Fund pays benefits to employees of illegally uninsured Wisconsin employers as though the employer had been insured. For settlements, see how much workers’ comp pays; for comp income in a support case, the Wisconsin child support calculator.
The Wisconsin rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 66.67% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,375 |
| Weekly minimum | none |
| Applies to | injuries on or after January 1, 2026 (unchanged in the April 1, 2026 column of the chart) |
| Waiting period | 3 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 7 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. Temporary total disability is based on two-thirds of the employee's wage up to a specified maximum for the year of injury (DWD; Wis. Stat. § 102.43). The 2026 maximum weekly wage for temporary, permanent total and death benefits is $2,062.50, giving a maximum weekly rate of $1,375.00 ($229.17 daily). source
Waiting period. Three-day waiting period: the first 3 days of lost time are not compensable and compensation begins on the 4th day; if disability extends beyond 7 calendar days, the first 3 days are paid retroactively. The waiting period includes Saturday and may include Sunday if the worker normally works Sundays (DWD; Wis. Stat. § 102.43(1)). source
Duration. Temporary disability is paid during the healing period, as documented by a doctor; DWD states no fixed week limit. source
Permanent disability. Permanent partial disability is paid at two-thirds of the wage, subject to a lower PPD maximum: $454.00 a week for injuries from April 1, 2026 ($446.00 from January 1, 2026; maximum PPD wage $681.00). Scheduled injuries are rated as a percentage of loss of use under Wis. Stat. § 102.52 using the minimum ratings of Wis. Admin. Code DWD 80.32; the PPD rate is presumed to be the maximum for workers under 27 at injury. source
Worth knowing in Wisconsin
- Wisconsin's permanent partial disability maximum ($454.00 a week from April 1, 2026) is far lower than its temporary disability maximum ($1,375.00). source
- For workers injured before age 27, the PPD rate is initially set at the maximum (rebuttable presumption). source
- The Uninsured Employers Fund pays benefits to employees of illegally uninsured Wisconsin employers as though the employer had been insured. source
- Burial expenses are covered up to $10,000, and the maximum death benefit for 2026 injuries is $412,500.00 (four times the maximum annual wage of $103,125.00). source