How Massachusetts calculates your weekly check
While your doctor keeps you off work, Massachusetts pays temporary total disability (TTD) benefits of 60% of your average weekly wage. The result is limited to a weekly maximum and minimum that Massachusetts resets on a fixed schedule. Your limits are the ones in effect on your date of injury.
- Maximum: $2,007.20 a week (injuries from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027).
- Minimum: $401.44 a week, or your actual wage if it is lower.
- Previous maximum: $1,922.48 for injuries October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
- When the cap applies: an average weekly wage above $3,345.33 reaches the maximum.
The maximum is 100% of the state average weekly wage ($2,007.20 from October 1, 2026) and the minimum is 20% of it. Rates reset every October 1.
An injury from January 1 to September 30, 2026 uses the earlier limits: $1,922.48 maximum and $384.50 minimum.
If your average weekly wage is below the minimum, you receive your full average weekly wage.
| Average weekly wage | Weekly benefit | Share of wage | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600 | $401.44 | 67% | Raised to minimum or flat rate |
| $1,000 | $600.00 | 60% | Standard rate |
| $1,500 | $900.00 | 60% | Standard rate |
| $2,200 | $1,320.00 | 60% | Standard rate |
Waiting period
No pay unless you are out 5 or more calendar days; pay starts on day 6. If you are out 21 days or more, you are paid from the first day. The days do not need to be in a row. The waiting period applies to wage benefits only; medical treatment is covered from the first day.
How long benefits last
Temporary total disability (section 34) lasts up to 156 weeks. Partial disability (section 35) can follow for up to 260 weeks, and the two together are limited to 364 weeks in most cases.
Permanent disability and settlements
Massachusetts pays permanent loss of function as a one-time lump sum under section 36, on top of weekly benefits. Each listed loss is worth a set multiple of the state average weekly wage on the date of injury: 43 times for a major arm, 34 for a major hand, 39 for a leg. Partial loss of use of an arm, hand, leg or foot is paid in proportion to the percentage lost.
Other losses of bodily function are paid up to 32 times the state average weekly wage for each function and 80 times in total. Disfigurement is capped at $15,000.
Lost earning capacity is paid separately, through partial disability (section 35) or permanent and total disability (section 34A).
Example: A 10% loss of use of the hand at the wrist, major is 10% of 34 times the state average weekly wage. With a $2,007.20 state average weekly wage, that is about $6,824, paid as a lump sum.
| Body part | x state avg. wage | Example value |
|---|---|---|
| Arm, major | 43 | $8,631 (10%) |
| Arm, minor | 39 | $7,828 (10%) |
| Hand at the wrist, major | 34 | $6,824 (10%) |
| Hand at the wrist, minor | 29 | $5,821 (10%) |
| Leg | 39 | $7,828 (10%) |
| Foot above the ankle | 29 | $5,821 (10%) |
| Eye (loss, or vision reduced to 20/70 with glasses) | 39 | $78,281 (total loss) |
| Hearing, one ear | 29 | $58,209 (total loss) |
| Hearing, both ears | 77 | $154,554 (total loss) |