Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Workers’ Compensaon Division • P.O. Box 64221, St. Paul, MN 55164-0221 • www.dli.mn.gov
An employee’s guide to the
Minnesota workers’ compensation system
Get help with your claim
Contact the Workers’ Compensaon Division Help Desk at 651-284-5005 (press 3), 800-342-5354 (press 3) or
helpdesk.dli@state.mn.us. Live support is available 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
1. Introducon and how to use this guide
When you are injured or become sick on the job, the process to obtain the benets you may be entled to under
Minnesota law can be confusing and overwhelming. This guide briey explains how current Minnesota laws apply to
work-related injuries or illnesses occurring on or aer Oct. 1, 1995. It is meant to provide basic informaon about the
Minnesota workers’ compensaon process and benets. It is not a full descripon of the workers’ compensaon system
and it is not meant to provide legal advice.
If you have quesons, refer to the text of the law or contact the Workers’ Compensaon Division Help Desk at the
Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) at 651-284-5005 (press 3), 800-342-5354 (press 3) or helpdesk.dli@state.mn.us.
2. What is workers’ compensaon?
If you get hurt on the job, whether it is an injury caused by your job or a condion you had that was made worse by your
job, the workers’ compensaon insurer pays for benets. Benets are paid whether it was your fault or the employer’s fault.
Any kind of injury could be covered for benets, including specic injuries (such as something falling on you), injuries that
occur over me from repeve work, injuries caused by something you breathed in and, somemes, mental-stress injuries.
Your employer pays the cost of the insurance. Unless specically exempted, all Minnesota employers must have workers’
compensaon insurance or become self-insured.
Workers’ compensaon benets may include:
• paying for medical care related to the injury, as long as it is reasonable and necessary;
• paying for part of any earnings you lose because of the injury;
• benets for permanent damage to your body;
• vocaonal rehabilitaon assistance if you cannot return to your job or to the employer you had before your injury;
• travel mileage and parking costs to get medical treatment or for certain vocaonal rehabilitaon acvies; and
• benets to your spouse and dependents if you die from a work injury.
3. How to get informaon about your claim at DLI
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) provides online access to your workers’ compensaon claim through
its online portal, Work Comp Campus. You can get informaon about your claim online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 2
To use Campus, you must create an account at hps://campus.dli.mn.gov/user/login. For addional informaon about
Campus, visit www.dli.mn.gov/business/workers-compensaon/work-comp-campus.
If you want informaon about your claim but you don’t want to use Campus, contact the help desk.
4. What happens when you are injured on the job
• If you are injured on the job, don’t wait. Tell your employer about the injury as soon as possible. You might lose your
right to benets if you do not report the injury within certain me frames.
• Your employer must complete a First Report of Injury form and send it to the employer’s insurance company within
10 days of learning you were injured and missed me from work.
• Aer you have reported the injury, the insurer will invesgate your claim to decide if it was work-related.
• You should tell your employer about your medical treatment and any work restricons.
• You should tell the insurer about any changes in your ability to work. You should also tell your employer and the
insurer if you have come back to work.
5. Helpful hints for injured workers
The workers’ compensaon process generates a lot of paperwork between your employer, the workers’ compensaon
insurance company and DLI. It is important that you keep the following informaon:
• copies of all papers relang to your injury, such as leers, forms, benet checks, medical bills and – especially –
the First Report of Injury form;
• your mileage and parking fees for medical visits and other trips relang to your injury; and
• notes about phone calls you have made or received about your injury.
Addionally, consider taking the following steps to manage your workers’ compensaon paperwork:
• on all papers you send to DLI, include your name, your DLI Campus claim number or your worker idencaon (WID)
number, your date of injury, your employer name and the name of its insurance company;
• give your employer copies of all work restricons issued by your doctor(s);
• open all mail sent to you from your employer, the workers’ compensaon insurance company and DLI; and
• contact the Workers’ Compensaon Division Help Desk (see above) with your quesons.
6. Important informaon for your claim
You should keep track of important names and telephone numbers related to your claim, including the following.
Date of injury
Insurance company name
Claim adjuster’s name and phone number
Your insurance claim number
Your WID number (when assigned by DLI)
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 3
Your DLI Campus claim number (CL-xx-xxxx-xxx)
Your Campus account login informaon
Managed care plan informaon (if applicable)
Doctor’s name and phone number
Qualied rehabilitaon consultant (QRC) name
and phone number
Other names and phone numbers relevant to
your claim
7. What happens aer the insurer reviews your claim
• If your claim involves lost me, the insurer must send you a Noce of Insurer’s Primary Liability Determinaon form.
This form must be sent to you within 14 days and tells you if your claim is accepted or denied. An accepted claim
means the insurer will voluntarily pay benets; a denied claim means the insurer will not voluntarily pay benets.
• You will be provided with a claim number and you may be contacted by an insurance claims adjuster for more informaon.
• If your claim is accepted, you may be eligible to obtain the following benets: wage loss, medical care, vocaonal
rehabilitaon services and payment for permanent damage to a body funcon.
• If your claim is denied completely or denied in part, you have opons (see “What you can do if the insurer denies
your claim” below).
8. Available monetary benets
The monetary benets available to injured workers are wage loss, payment for permanent damage to a body funcon,
and mileage for medical appointments and certain vocaonal rehabilitaon appointments. Death benets are available
to the family of an employee who died from a work injury.
A. Wage loss
If you cannot work because of your injury or if you cannot earn your full wages because of your injury, the insurer may
have to pay wage-loss benets. There are three kinds of wage-loss benets: temporary total disability (TTD); temporary
paral disability (TPD); and permanent total disability (PTD).
Temporary total disability wage-loss benets
• On the rst day that you cannot work, even if it is just a part of a day, you are considered disabled.
• TTD is not paid for the rst three days aer you cannot work – this is referred to as the waing period. TTD starts on the
fourth day. If you connue to be unable to work aer the 10th day, wage-loss benets are also paid for the waing period.
• The insurer must start paying TTD within 14 days from when your employer learned you weren’t able to work.
• TTD benets equal two-thirds of your average weekly wage at the me of injury (subject to maximum and minimum
limits).
• You typically cannot receive more than 130 weeks of TTD benets. However, TTD wage benets may be paid longer if
you are in an approved work retraining educaon program.
• TTD benets are paid according to the same schedule from which you were being paid before the injury and are tax-free.
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 4
Temporary paral disability wage-loss benets
• TPD benets are paid if you return to work and earn less money because of your injury, whether you go back to work
at your original employer or work for a new employer.
• TPD benets are two-thirds of the dierence between your average weekly wage at the me of the injury and your
current weekly earnings. They are also tax-free.
• For injuries on or aer Oct. 1, 2018, you typically cannot be paid more than 275 weeks of TPD benets or receive
such benets aer 450 weeks have passed since the date of injury. These limits may not apply if you are parcipang
in a work retraining educaon program.
Permanent total disability wage-loss benets
• If you can’t ever go back to a steady job aer your injury, you may be eligible for PTD benets.
• The PTD benet amount is two-thirds of the gross weekly wage you were earning at the me you were injured and is
tax-free.
• The amount of these benets is determined by the law in eect on the date of injury. Specic minimum and
maximum amounts apply.
B. Wage-loss benets can be stopped
Your employer or insurer may believe you should not receive wage-loss benets anymore. If the insurer wants to stop
paying wage-loss benets, it must give you a Noce of Intenon to Disconnue Workers’ Compensaon Benets (NOID)
form. The noce must state when benets will be stopped and must explain why they will be stopped.
Wage-loss benets can be stopped for several reasons. Some examples include:
• the maximum number of weeks of wage-loss has been paid;
• you have returned to work and are no longer losing any money;
• 90 days have passed since you were told you have reached maximum medical improvement (you have healed as
much as you are going to heal, even if you sll have pain or symptoms);
• you can work without any restricons from your injury; or
• you are able to go back to work and either are not looking for work or refuse work within your restricons.
You can disagree with the insurer’s decision and ask for a conference with a workers’ compensaon judge. The judge will
decide if the insurer was right to stop your wage-loss benets.
If you receive a NOID form and disagree with it, you need to request a conference within 12 days or there will be a
longer objecon procedure. Wage-loss benets usually must be paid unl the date of the conference. If you need
assistance, contact the help desk.
C. Permanent paral disability (PPD) benets
• PPD benets are payment for permanent loss of use of a body part.
• The amount of money paid is based on a PPD rang given by a doctor that is then mulplied by a specic dollar
amount to determine the benet that is payable.
• The disability schedules can be found in Minnesota Rules Chapter 5223 and Minnesota Statutes secon 176.101,
subdivision 2a.
D. Death and dependency benets
• The spouse, children and other dependents of a worker who dies because of a work-related accident or occupaonal
illness might be eligible for dependency benets for a period of me.
• Workers’ compensaon insurance also pays burial expenses; for dates of injury on or aer April 28, 2000, the
maximum amount is $15,000.
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 5
• For injuries on or aer April 28, 2000, payment is made to the estate, if the deceased has no dependents.
• For more informaon, see Minn. Stat. secon 176.111.
9. Available medical benets
When your claim is accepted, payment will be made for the cost of all reasonable and necessary health care treatment
related to your work injury, including prescripon medicaon.
• You may choose your own health care provider under most circumstances, with some excepons for employers or
insurers that receive services from a cered managed care plan.
• If you drive to medical appointments or to pick up prescripons, you can receive reimbursement for mileage and
parking by sending supporng documentaon of the mileage or parking expense to the insurer.
• The insurer may designate a pharmacy or pharmacies you must use to obtain medicine for your injury if the
pharmacy is within 15 miles of your home.
• Make sure your health care provider sends all bills and supporng informaon to the insurer. The supporng
informaon must explain how the treatment and charges relate to your work injury.
• Your health care provider must nofy the insurer before you have any surgery or treatment requiring hospitalizaon,
except in an emergency. You or the insurer may ask for a second opinion for any surgery that is not an emergency.
The insurer must pay for the second opinion. You cannot be forced to have surgery if you do not want it.
• Your health care provider cannot bill you directly for treatment unless the insurer determines the treatment was not
related to an accepted work injury.
• Treatment by certain unlicensed complementary and alternave health care providers is not paid.
• See Minn. Stat. secon 176.135 for a complete discussion of the treatment, appliances and supplies covered by
workers’ compensaon.
A. Cered managed care plans
Some employers parcipate in a workers’ compensaon cered managed care (CMC) plan. There are three approved
CMC plans in Minnesota: CorVel, Genex and HealthPartners. You may be required to receive medical treatment through
these plans unless:
• you need emergency medical care;
• you want to receive care from another health care provider that is able to treat your injury and has treated you at
least twice in the past two years or has a documented history of treang you; or
• you live or work too far from a health care provider in the plan (there is a 30-mile limit in the seven-county Twin
Cies area and a 50-mile limit in all other areas).
B. Independent medical examinaons
At some point while you are receiving workers’ compensaon benets, the insurer may ask you to be examined by
a doctor of its choice, oen called an independent medical examinaon (IME). If you refuse to be examined by the
doctor, the insurer could stop your benets. The insurer must reimburse you for mileage and other costs for aending
the examinaon, including hotels and meals depending on how far you need to drive to get there. If you ask for it, the
insurer must give you a copy of the IME report.
10. Vocaonal rehabilitaon services
Vocaonal rehabilitaon services are provided to help you return to work aer your injury. Vocaonal rehabilitaon
services can help you get back to a job at an appropriate pay rate within your work restricons.
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 6
You may be eligible for vocaonal services if:
• you are unable to return to the regular job you had on the date of injury; or
• your employer is unable to oer you work within your work restricons or you are working at a wage loss.
A. How to ask for vocaonal rehabilitaon; “QRC” explained
You may ask for vocaonal rehabilitaon at any me. If you think vocaonal rehabilitaon services will be helpful, write
to the insurer to request a rehabilitaon consultaon with a qualied rehabilitaon consultant (QRC).
A list of QRCs is online at www.dli.mn.gov/business/workers-compensaon/work-comp-qrc-vendor-directories. You can
also contact the Workers’ Compensaon Division Help Desk at helpdesk.dli@state.mn.us, 651-284-5005 (press 3) or
800-342-5354 (press 3) for more informaon.
For a rehabilitaon consultaon, the insurer may refer you to a QRC or you may choose your own. If you do not choose the
QRC for your consultaon, you have up to 60 days aer a rehabilitaon plan is led with DLI to request a dierent QRC. You
may be entled to change QRCs at other mes as well. Contact the help desk if you would like more informaon.
A QRC is required to be professionally objecve. The QRC conducts a vocaonal rehabilitaon consultaon to determine
whether you are eligible for rehabilitaon services and may help in managing your medical appointments. If you
are eligible, the QRC will write a rehabilitaon plan and coordinate those services. The QRC will work with you, your
employer and the insurer to plan the medical treatment and services you need to return to a job within your work
restricons at an appropriate pay rate.
B. Disability case management; vocaonal rehabilitaon services
An insurer may assign you a disability case manager (DCM), if it does not appear you will be o work more than 90 days,
to assist you with your medical appointments and returning to work. A DCM works for the insurer and is not considered
to be neutral. You may ask for a rehabilitaon consultaon with a QRC at any me, even if you are working with a DCM.
Any person who has worked with you as a DCM may not then work with you as your QRC.
C. Retraining or returning to school to learn a new occupaon
• Your rehabilitaon plan may include retraining, which is a formal course of study through a school program designed
to assist an injured worker’s return to suitable gainful employment.
• Retraining benets are limited to 156 weeks. Your QRC is responsible for preparing your retraining plan and it must
be approved by the insurer and by DLI.
• For dates of injury on or aer Oct. 1, 2008, you must le a request for retraining with DLI before 208 weeks of any
combinaon of temporary total disability and temporary paral disability benets are paid.
11. What you can do if the insurer denies your claim
If the insurer denies your claim, it needs to send you a Noce of Insurer’s Primary Liability Determinaon form stang it
is denying primary liability for your claim. The form must clearly explain the facts and reasons the insurer is using to deny
your claim. If you disagree with the denial, you have opons for dispung the denial.
• You can talk with the insurance claims adjuster who is handling your claim and nd out if they will reconsider the
decision.
• You can le an Employee’s Claim Peon form at the Oce of Administrave Hearings.
• You can contact an aorney who can explain your rights and le paperwork dispung the denial.
• You can call DLI’s Vocaonal Rehabilitaon unit at 651-284-5038 or 888-772-5500 and ask for a rehabilitaon
consultaon if you need help from a QRC to return to work, but your claim has been denied.
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 7
12. What you can do if you have problems with benets for an accepted claim
Many workers’ compensaon claims are paid without any problems. There are several things you can do if you feel
you are not receiving the correct benets, you are not receiving the correct mileage or expense reimbursement, your
benets have been terminated or you have other queson.
• You can call the insurance claims adjuster. Write down the date, me and adjuster’s name for your records. Explain
the problem and try to work it out. Many problems can be xed with a telephone call. If you can’t reach the claims
adjuster, you can ask to speak to their supervisor.
• You can call the DLI Workers’ Compensaon Division Help Desk if your problem has not been resolved and you will
be directed to the dispute resoluon specialist who can best help you. The specialist can explain the dispute-
resoluon process and provide informaon to help you decide the best way to resolve your problem. The specialist
cannot provide legal advice, but can provide informaon to help you decide what to do.
• If your medical benets are provided through a cered managed care plan, you must rst use the managed care
plan’s dispute-resoluon process to resolve disagreements about medical care. The managed care plan must respond
to you within 30 days aer you nofy them of a problem in wring.
• If you have a dispute that relates to medical or vocaonal rehabilitaon benets, you can iniate a dispute at DLI in
Campus at campus.dli.mn.gov/user/login. You can also contact the DLI help desk for assistance.
• Workers who are not represented by an aorney can le a dispute in Campus or they can mail a completed form to DLI.
• Some unions and employers, especially in the construcon industry, have specic procedures that must be followed
when resolving disputes. Contact your union representave for further informaon.
• You can always call and discuss your claim with a workers’ compensaon aorney who can explain your rights. Most
aorneys provide a free consultaon. Aorneys may only claim a fee if they are successful in resolving a benets
dispute for you.
13. Records privacy
State claim les
Other than DLI sta members, the contents of your workers’ compensaon le can be examined by: you (the employee);
your employer at the me of injury; your employer’s insurer; an agent of the employer or insurer; the dependents of an
employee who has died; or anyone else with wrien permission from you or your dependents.
To further protect your identy, DLI assigns a unique nine-digit number to claims, the worker idencaon (WID)
number. DLI will only use the WID number on outgoing correspondence. You will not need to know your WID number to
ask DLI quesons about your claim, but DLI wants you to be aware of WID number use.
If you contact DLI about your workers’ compensaon claim you may be asked to provide private or condenal data
(your Social Security or WID number). You may refuse to provide the data, but then DLI may not be able to assist you
with your queson or problem. Any private or condenal data you provide will be used by DLI sta members who have
authorized access to the data; it may also be used for state invesgaons and stascs. The data may be made part of
the le for your claim; therefore, it may be supplied to: anyone who has access to the le or the data by authorizaon or
court order; the employer and insurer for your claim; the Oce of Administrave Hearings; the Workers’ Compensaon
Court of Appeals; the Minnesota Department of Health; the Minnesota Department of Revenue; and the Workers’
Compensaon Reinsurance Associaon. See Minn. Stat. secon 176.231, subd. 9-9b at revisor.mn.gov/statutes/
cite/176.231 for complete informaon.
14. Fraud
Any person who, with intent to defraud, receives workers’ compensaon benets to which the person is not entled
by knowingly misrepresenng, misstang or failing to disclose any material fact is guilty of the and shall be sentenced
pursuant to Minn. Stat. secon 609.52, subd. 3.
An employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers’ compensaon system 8
Contact the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Fraud Prevenon unit about possible workers’ compensaon fraud at
888-372-8366.
15. How to get quesons answered
Your employer’s insurance company can give you answers to many quesons. You can also talk to an aorney about your
claim. You can contact the DLI Workers’ Compensaon Division Help Desk at helpdesk.dli@state.mn.us, 651-284-5005
(press 3) or 800-342-5354 (press 3) between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Finally, you can also call the
Oce of Workers’ Compensaon Ombudsman at 651-284-5013 or 800-342-5354.
More informaon about workers’ compensaon is available on DLI’s website at dli.mn.gov/workers/workers-
compensaon-workers.
Notes
