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★ Massachusetts · workplace

Workplace settlements
in Massachusetts.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

Massachusetts pays injured workers 60% of their wages up to a maximum that equals the state average weekly wage, $1,922.48 since October 2025. If a third party caused the injury, the comp insurer is repaid from the recovery, but not from the part paid for pain and suffering.

Facts that decide a workplace claim in Massachusetts

Temporary total incapacitySixty percent of the average weekly wage, up to the maximum rate, for no more than 156 weeks.G.L. c. 152, § 34
Maximum and minimum, from 1 October 2025Maximum $1,922.48 a week and minimum $384.50 a week ($1,829.13 and $365.83 from 1 October 2024).Department of Industrial Accidents, minimum and maximum compensation rates
Insurer’s lienThe comp insurer’s lien on a third party recovery does not extend to damages allocated to the worker’s pain and suffering.DiCarlo v. Suffolk Construction (Mass. 2016)
Deadline to sueThree years: tort actions “shall be commenced only within three years next after the cause of action accrues.”G.L. c. 260, § 2A
united states · sister site
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★ MA · reported workplace outcomes

What Massachusetts courts have awarded.

Real Massachusetts decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • DiCarlo v. Suffolk Construction
    Supreme Judicial Court · 2016
    $100,000 settlement; lien excluded from pain and suffering

    Electrician Robert DiCarlo seriously injured his back on a construction site in 2004. The comp insurer paid $48,431.16 in medical costs and $233,387.95 in lost wages. He settled with the contractors for $100,000 and the parties allocated part to pain and suffering; the insurer claimed a lien on the whole amount. In a companion case another electrician had received $566,392.94 in benefits. The Court held the lien does not reach damages for pain and suffering.

★ MA · workplace · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a workplace settlement in Massachusetts.

  1. 1

    Allocate a third party settlement carefully. DiCarlo lets the worker keep the share for pain and suffering free of the insurer’s lien, which can be most of a modest settlement.

  2. 2

    Benefits for total incapacity stop after 156 weeks under § 34, so longer term cases move to partial or permanent benefits.

  3. 3

    The maximum is tied to the state average weekly wage and resets each October, so the date of injury sets the rate.

★ MA · statute of limitations
3 years from date of injury

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A

★ MA · fault rule
Modified comparative, 51% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 51% claimant fault.

★ MA · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a workplace settlement in Massachusetts.

★ workplace · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Massachusetts's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for workplace claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationWorkplace page
Massachusetts · you are hereModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injury—
New HampshireModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryNH · workplace →
New JerseyModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryNJ · workplace →
New YorkPure comparative negligence3 years for personal injury; 2 years 6 months for medical malpracticeNY · workplace →
PennsylvaniaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryPA · workplace →
Rhode IslandPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryRI · workplace →
VermontModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryVT · workplace →
MichiganModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMI · workplace →
MinnesotaModified comparative, 51% bar6 years for personal injury (uncommonly long); 4 years for medical malpracticeMN · workplace →
MontanaModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMT · workplace →
NevadaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for medical malpracticeNV · workplace →
MississippiPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryMS · workplace →
MissouriPure comparative negligence5 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeMO · workplace →
★ MA · workplace · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt at work in Massachusetts? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

Check my case

Sources

Checked 2026-09-28.

★ all of MA
Massachusetts overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Massachusetts as a whole.

★ national frame
Workplace in United States

Workplace band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Workplace · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of workplace bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Massachusetts. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.