The 90-day notice requirement
Michigan Compiled Law 418.381(1) requires you to give your employer notice of a work-related injury within 90 days of the date the injury happened. Notice does not have to be a lawsuit or a formal legal document — but it does have to be enough to put your employer on notice that you were hurt on the job and are seeking workers' comp benefits.
What counts as notice?
- Written notice is best. A dated email or incident report to your supervisor or HR is ideal.
- Verbal notice can count — but only if you can prove later that you gave it and who you told.
- An employer's actual knowledge of the injury (a supervisor who witnessed it, for example) can satisfy the notice requirement in some cases.
- Reporting to a co-worker is not enough. Notice must go to a supervisor, manager, or HR representative.
Waiting even a few weeks weakens your case. Insurance adjusters routinely deny claims where notice was delayed by arguing that the injury didn't happen at work — or didn't happen at all. Report the injury the same day if you can.
The 2-year statute of limitations
Separately from the notice requirement, MCL 418.381(1) also requires that you file a formal claim within 2 years of the injury. This is the deadline that most workers miss. Just because you told your boss what happened does not mean a claim was ever filed on your behalf.
A "formal claim" means an Application for Mediation or Hearing filed with the Michigan Workers' Disability Compensation Agency (WDCA). Your employer's insurance company paying you a few weeks of benefits does not stop the 2-year clock — and neither does your employer promising to "take care of it."
Michigan's 2-year-back rule
Even if you file your claim inside the 2-year window, MCL 418.381(2) — often called the "2-year-back rule" — limits how far back your wage-loss benefits can reach. Retroactive benefits can only go back 2 years before the date your Application was filed.
In practical terms, every month you delay filing is a month of wage-loss benefits you can never recover. If you were injured 3 years ago and file today, you can still pursue a claim, but any back-pay is capped at the 24 months before the filing date. This rule alone costs Michigan workers thousands of dollars every year.
Special situations and exceptions
Not every Michigan workers' comp case follows the standard 90-day / 2-year timeline. The Act treats several categories of claim differently:
Occupational diseases and repetitive trauma
For conditions that develop over time — hearing loss, carpal tunnel, back injuries from years of lifting, chemical exposure, occupational lung disease — the deadline clock starts on the date of last injurious exposure or the date you first knew (or reasonably should have known) the condition was work-related, whichever gives you a longer window.
Death benefits
Surviving spouses and dependents have their own filing deadlines under MCL 418.381 — generally 2 years from the date of death when the death results from a work injury or occupational disease. Death-benefit claims are governed by their own set of rules and should be reviewed by a lawyer immediately.
Minors and legally incapacitated workers
The 2-year filing clock is tolled — paused — for workers who are minors or who are legally incapacitated at the time of injury. The clock generally begins to run once the disability is removed. Do not rely on this exception without legal advice: courts read it narrowly and one wrong step can cost you the claim.
Mental disabilities
Michigan recognizes work-related psychiatric injuries when they arise in a significant manner out of the employment. The 90-day notice and 2-year filing deadlines still apply, but the "discovery rule" is more forgiving because mental conditions rarely present on a single, identifiable date.
What "filing a claim" actually looks like
Filing a workers' comp claim in Michigan is a specific legal act. Here's what it involves:
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1
Employer's Basic Report of Injury (Form 100). Your employer must file this with the WDCA and their insurer within 14 days of your injury. Confirm it was filed — many aren't.
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2
Employee's Claim (Form WC-117). If your employer or their insurer refuses to pay benefits, you file this to put the WDCA on notice of your claim.
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3
Application for Mediation or Hearing (Form WC-104A). This is the formal claim that satisfies the 2-year deadline and starts the process leading to mediation and, if necessary, a trial before a magistrate.
Why acting immediately matters
Even setting the strict deadlines aside, waiting to pursue a workers' comp claim hurts you in ways that never show up in a statute:
- Evidence disappears. Witnesses forget details, surveillance video is overwritten, and safety records get "misplaced."
- Medical records get harder to connect. Insurance carriers argue that any gap between injury and treatment proves the injury didn't happen at work.
- You lose leverage in negotiations. The 2-year-back rule shrinks your case value every month you wait.
- Your bills pile up. Wage-loss checks and medical coverage do not start until the claim is on file and either accepted or ordered paid.
Not sure if your deadline has passed?
Call Jay Trucks & Associates. We'll pull the dates, review your medical records and employment history, and tell you exactly where you stand — free of charge and with zero obligation.