HOUSE BILL NO. 6295
December 13, 2024, Introduced by Rep. Haadsma and referred to the Committee on Government
Operations.
A bill to amend 1969 PA 317, entitled
"Worker's disability compensation act of 1969,"
by amending sections 301, 311, 313, 351, 354, 355, 356, 358, 361,
371, 401, and 891 (MCL 418.301, 418.311, 418.313, 418.351, 418.354,
418.355, 418.356, 418.358, 418.361, 418.371, 418.401, and 418.891),
sections 301, 354, 358, 361, and 401 as amended by 2011 PA 266,
sections 313, 355, and 371 as amended by 1982 PA 32, section 351 as
amended by 1980 PA 357, section 356 as amended by 2014 PA 231, and
section 891 as amended by 2012 PA 83; and to repeal acts and parts
of acts.
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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 301. (1) An employee, who receives a personal injury
2 arising out of and in the course of employment by an employer who
3 is subject to this act at the time of the injury, shall must be
4 paid compensation as provided in this act. A personal injury under
5 this act is compensable if work causes, contributes to, or
6 aggravates, pathology in a manner so as to create a pathology that
7 is medically distinguishable from any pathology that existed prior
8 to the injury. In the case of death resulting accelerates, or
9 worsens a symptom or pathology related to a physical or mental
10 condition, regardless of any preexisting or coexisting condition
11 the employee may have. If an employee dies from the personal injury
12 to the employee, compensation shall must be paid to the employee's
13 dependents or the employee's estate as provided in this act. Time
14 of injury or date of injury as used in this act in the case of for
15 a disease or in the case of an injury not attributable to a single
16 event is the last day of work in the employment in which the
17 employee was last subjected to the conditions that resulted in the
18 employee's disability or death.
19 (2) Mental disabilities and conditions of the aging process,
20 including but not limited to heart and cardiovascular conditions
21 and degenerative arthritis, are compensable if contributed to or
22 aggravated or accelerated by the employment in a significant
23 manner. Mental disabilities are compensable if arising out of
24 actual events of employment, not unfounded perceptions thereof, and
25 if the employee's perception of the actual events is reasonably
26 grounded in fact or reality.
27 (2) (3) An employee going to or from his or her the employee's
28 work, while on the premises where the employee's work is to be
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1 performed, and within a reasonable time before and after his or her
2 the employee's working hours, is presumed to be in the course of
3 his or her the employee's employment. Notwithstanding this
4 presumption, an injury incurred in the pursuit of an activity, the
5 major purpose of which is social or recreational, is not covered
6 under this act, . Any and any cause of action brought for such an
7 the injury is not subject to section 131.
8 (3) (4) As used in this chapter:
9 (a) "Disability" means a limitation of an employee's wage
10 earning capacity in work suitable to his or her the employee's
11 qualifications and training resulting from a personal injury or
12 work-related disease. A limitation of wage earning capacity occurs
13 only if a personal injury covered under this act results in the
14 employee's employee being unable to perform all jobs paying the
15 maximum wages or obtain 1 or more jobs in work suitable to that the
16 employee's qualifications and training. , which includes work that
17 may be performed using the employee's transferable work skills. A
18 disability is total if the employee is unable to earn in any job
19 paying maximum wages in work suitable to the employee's
20 qualifications and training. A disability is partial if the
21 employee retains a wage earning capacity at a pay level less than
22 his or her maximum wages in work suitable to his or her
23 qualifications and training. The establishment of disability does
24 not create a presumption of wage loss.
25 (b) Except as provided in section 302, "wage earning capacity"
26 means the wages the employee earns or is capable of earning at a
27 job reasonably available to that employee, whether or not wages are
28 actually earned. For the purposes of establishing a limitation of
29 wage earning capacity, an employee has an affirmative duty to seek
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1 work reasonably available to that employee, taking into
2 consideration the limitations from the work-related personal injury
3 or disease. A magistrate may consider good-faith job search efforts
4 to determine whether jobs are reasonably available.
5 (b) (c) "Wage loss" means the amount of reduced wages lost due
6 connected to a disability. The employee shall establish a
7 connection between the disability and reduced wages in establishing
8 the wage loss. Wage loss may be established, among other methods,
9 by demonstrating the employee's good-faith effort to procure work
10 within his or her wage earning capacity. A partially disabled
11 employee who establishes a good-faith effort to procure work but
12 cannot obtain work within his or her wage earning capacity is
13 entitled to weekly benefits under subsection (7) as if totally
14 disabled.wage loss to receive weekly wage loss benefits. If the
15 employee establishes a connection between disability and wage loss,
16 other factors that contribute to the employee's wage loss do not
17 affect the payment or amount of wage loss benefits due the
18 employee.
19 (5) To establish an initial showing of disability, an employee
20 shall do all of the following:
21 (a) Disclose his or her qualifications and training, including
22 education, skills, and experience, whether or not they are relevant
23 to the job the employee was performing at the time of the injury.
24 (b) Provide evidence as to the jobs, if any, he or she is
25 qualified and trained to perform within the same salary range as
26 his or her maximum wage earning capacity at the time of the injury.
27 (c) Demonstrate that the work-related injury prevents the
28 employee from performing jobs identified as within his or her
29 qualifications and training that pay maximum wages.
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1 (d) If the employee is capable of performing any of the jobs
2 identified in subdivision (c), show that he or she cannot obtain
3 any of those jobs. The evidence shall include a showing of a good-
4 faith attempt to procure post-injury employment if there are jobs
5 at the employee's maximum wage earning capacity at the time of the
6 injury.
7 (6) Once an employee establishes an initial showing of a
8 disability under subsection (5), the employer bears the burden of
9 production of evidence to refute the employee's showing. In
10 satisfying its burden of production of evidence, the employer has a
11 right to discovery if necessary for the employer to sustain its
12 burden and present a meaningful defense. The employee may present
13 additional evidence to challenge the evidence submitted by the
14 employer.
15 (4) (7) If Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6), if
16 a personal injury arising out of the course of employment causes
17 total results in disability and connected to wage loss and the
18 injured employee is entitled to wage loss benefits, the does not
19 receive wages in a week after the injury, the employer shall pay or
20 cause to be paid to the injured employee as provided in this
21 section weekly compensation equal to 80% 90% of the employee's
22 after-tax average weekly wage, but not more than the maximum weekly
23 rate determined under section 355. Compensation shall must be paid
24 for the duration of the disability.
25 (5) (8) If Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6), if
26 a personal injury arising out of the course of employment causes
27 partial results in disability and connected to wage loss and the
28 employee is entitled to wage loss benefits, receives wages in a
29 week after the injury, the employer shall pay or cause to be paid
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1 to the injured employee as provided in this section weekly
2 compensation equal to 80% 90% of the difference between the injured
3 employee's after-tax average weekly wage before the personal injury
4 and the employee's wage earning capacity after-tax actual wages
5 paid after the personal injury, but not more than the maximum
6 weekly rate determined under section 355. Compensation shall must
7 be paid for the duration of the disability.
8 (6) (9) If disability and wage loss are established,
9 entitlement to weekly wage loss benefits shall must be determined
10 as applicable pursuant to under this section and as follows:
11 (a) If an employee receives a bona fide offer of reasonable
12 employment from the employee's previous employer, another employer,
13 or through the Michigan unemployment insurance agency and the
14 employee refuses that employment without good and reasonable cause,
15 the employee shall be is considered to have voluntarily removed
16 himself or herself from the work force workforce and is not
17 entitled to any wage loss benefits under this act during the period
18 of refusal. The employer has the burden of proof of establishing
19 that the employee received a bona fide offer of reasonable
20 employment.
21 (b) If an employee is terminated from reasonable employment
22 for fault of the employee, the employee is considered to have
23 voluntarily removed himself or herself from the work force and is
24 not entitled to any wage loss benefits under this act.
25 (c) If an employee is employed and the weekly wage of the
26 employee is less than that which the employee received before the
27 date of injury, the employee shall receive weekly benefits under
28 this act equal to 80% of the difference between the injured
29 employee's after-tax weekly wage before the date of injury and the
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1 after-tax weekly wage that the injured employee earns after the
2 date of injury, but not more than the maximum weekly rate of
3 compensation, as determined under section 355.
4 (b) (d) If an employee is employed and the average weekly wage
5 of the employee earns a wage in a week that is equal to or more
6 than the average weekly wage the employee received before the date
7 of injury, the employee is not entitled to any wage loss benefits
8 under this act for the duration that week of that employment.
9 (c) If an employee, after being employed under this subsection
10 for less than 100 weeks, loses the employee's job, the employee's
11 personal injury is conclusively presumed to result in disability
12 connected to wage loss.
13 (d) If an employee, after being employed under this subsection
14 for more than 100 weeks, loses the employee's job, proof of work-
15 related disability connected to wage loss is a question of fact.
16 (e) If the employee, after having been employed pursuant to
17 this subsection loses his or her job through no fault of the
18 employee and the employee is still disabled, the employee shall
19 receive compensation under this act as follows:
20 (i) If the employee was employed for less than 100 weeks, the
21 employee shall receive compensation based upon his or her average
22 weekly wage at the time of the original injury.
23 (ii) If the employee was employed for 100 weeks or more but
24 less than 250 weeks, then after exhausting unemployment benefit
25 eligibility, a worker's compensation magistrate may determine that
26 the employment since the time of the injury has not established a
27 new wage earning capacity and, if the magistrate makes that
28 determination, benefits shall be based on his or her average weekly
29 wage at the original date of injury. If the magistrate does not
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1 make that determination, the employee is presumed to have
2 established a post-injury wage earning capacity and benefits shall
3 not be paid based on the wage at the original date of injury.
4 (iii) If the employee was employed for 250 weeks or more, the
5 employee is presumed to have established a post-injury wage earning
6 capacity.
7 (7) (10) The Michigan unemployment insurance agency shall
8 notify the agency in writing of the name of any employee who
9 refuses any bona fide offer of reasonable employment. Upon
10 notification to the agency, the agency shall notify the carrier who
11 shall that must terminate the benefits of the employee pursuant to
12 under subsection (9)(a).(6)(a).
13 (8) (11) "Reasonable employment", as used in this section,
14 means suitable work that is within the an employee's
15 qualifications, training, and capacity to perform that poses no
16 clear and proximate threat unreasonable risk to that employee's
17 health and safety, and that is within a reasonable distance from
18 that the employee's residence. The employee's capacity to perform
19 shall not be limited to jobs in work suitable to his or her
20 qualifications and training.
21 (9) (12) Weekly benefits are not payable during the period of
22 confinement to a person who is incarcerated in a penal institution
23 for violation of the criminal laws of this state or who is confined
24 in a mental institution pending trial for a violation of the
25 criminal laws of this state, if the violation or reason for the
26 confinement occurred while at work and is directly related to the
27 claim.
28 (10) (13) A person or entity shall not discharge an employee
29 or in any manner discriminate against an employee because the
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1 employee filed a complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted
2 a proceeding under this act or because of the exercise by the
3 employee on behalf of himself or herself the employee or others of
4 a right afforded by this act. In addition to any other benefits
5 payable under this act, a person aggrieved by a violation of this
6 subsection may bring a tort action to recover damages or pursue
7 sanctions before a worker's compensation magistrate. If a worker's
8 compensation magistrate determines that a person or entity violated
9 this subsection, in addition to any other benefits owing under this
10 act not subject to the maximum rate under section 355, the
11 magistrate shall order the person or entity to pay to the aggrieved
12 person, without regard to disability or wage loss, an amount equal
13 to 100 weeks of the aggrieved person's average weekly wage earned
14 at the time of the discharge, discrimination, or injury, whichever
15 is greater.
16 (11) (14) This section applies to personal injuries and work
17 related diseases occurring on or after June 30, 1985.
18 Sec. 311. No compensation shall be paid under this act for any
19 injury which does not incapacitate the employee from earning full
20 wages, for a period of at least 1 week, but if incapacity extends
21 beyond the period of 1 week, compensation shall begin on the eighth
22 day after the injury. If incapacity continues for 2 weeks or longer
23 or if death results from the injury, compensation shall be computed
24 from the date of the injury.Compensation must be paid under this
25 act for any period of time in which a work injury or occupational
26 disease results in disability connected to wage loss.
27 Sec. 313. (1) As used in this act, "after-tax average weekly
28 wage" means average weekly wage as defined in section 371 reduced
29 by the prorated weekly amount which that would have been paid under
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1 the federal insurance contributions act, 26 U.S.C. USC 3101 to
2 3126, state income tax and federal income tax, calculated on an
3 annual basis using as the number of exemptions the disabled
4 employee's dependents plus the employee, and without excess
5 itemized deductions. Effective January 1, 1982, and each January 1
6 thereafter, the applicable federal and state laws in effect on the
7 preceding July 1 shall must be used in determining the after-tax
8 weekly wage.
9 (2) Each December 1, the director shall publish tables of the
10 average weekly wage and 80% 90% of after-tax average weekly wage
11 that are to be in effect on the following January 1. These tables
12 shall be are conclusive for the purpose of converting an average
13 weekly wage into 80% 90% of after-tax average weekly wage.
14 Sec. 351. (1) While the incapacity for work resulting from a
15 personal injury is total, the employer shall pay, or cause to be
16 paid as provided in this section, to the injured employee, a weekly
17 compensation of 80% 90% of the employee's after-tax average weekly
18 wa