- | By Steele & Ferguson, P.C.
If your employer in Michigan refuses to file your workers’ comp claim, you can file it yourself — and you should do it immediately. Michigan’s Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency (WDCA) accepts Form WC-117, the Employee’s Report of Claim, directly from injured workers. The agency processes it and sends notice to your employer and its insurance carrier, exactly as if your employer had filed the report itself. Your boss cannot shut down your claim by refusing to report it. Under Michigan’s administrative rules, employers are actually required to report a work injury to the agency immediately on Form WC-100 when it causes disability beyond seven consecutive days, death, or a specific loss — so an employer who refuses is the one breaking the rules, not you.
This is one of the most common calls we get from injured workers in Flint, Detroit, Warren, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw, and every corner of the state. The good news is that Michigan law does not leave you stuck.
Employer stonewalling your claim? Call Steele Law now at 248-704-2542. Free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Why Would an Employer Refuse to File a Workers’ Comp Claim?
It is almost never because your injury isn’t real. It is almost always about money or exposure:
- They don’t want their insurance premiums to go up. A claim on the loss run costs them at renewal.
- They have a large deductible and would have to pay the first chunk out of pocket.
- They don’t have workers’ comp insurance at all — and reporting the injury would expose that.
- They misclassified you as a 1099 independent contractor to avoid paying premiums.
- They misrepresented their business classification to the carrier to get a lower rate.
- They’re worried about MIOSHA scrutiny or a safety record.
- A supervisor is protecting their own numbers on a departmental safety bonus.
None of these are your problem to solve, and none of them are legal reasons to block your claim.
How Do I File a Michigan Workers’ Comp Claim Myself?
Here is exactly what to do, in order:
- Give notice — and put it in writing. Verbal notice to a supervisor or manager legally counts in Michigan, but verbal notice is exactly what gets denied later. Follow up the same day with a text or email: what happened, when, where, what body part, and who witnessed it. Keep a copy on your personal phone, not a work device.
- Get medical treatment right now, and say it happened at work. Tell the urgent care, the ER, and your family doctor that this is a work injury. Those words land in your medical chart and become evidence. A gap in treatment is the single easiest thing for an insurance company to attack.
- Ask your employer, in writing, to file Form WC-100. One clear written request. If they refuse or ignore it, you now have proof of the refusal.
- File Form WC-117 — Employee’s Report of Claim — with the WDCA. This is the move. You file directly with the state. The agency processes it and notifies your employer and its insurance carrier. The form is on the agency’s website, or you can call and have it mailed to you.
- Verify whether your employer actually carries coverage. The WDCA maintains an insurance coverage lookup tool, and you can call the agency at 888-396-5041. If your employer is uninsured, that changes your options significantly — see below.
- Document everything, starting now. Photos of the hazard, names and phone numbers of coworkers who saw it, your work schedule, and 52 weeks of pay stubs.
- If benefits are denied or not paid, file Form WC-104A. The Application for Mediation or Hearing is what actually opens a contested case in front of a workers’ compensation magistrate. Filing the WC-117 reports your claim; the WC-104A is what forces a decision.
- Call a Michigan workers’ comp attorney before you talk to an adjuster. Especially before you give a recorded statement.
What Is Form WC-117 and How Is It Different From WC-100?
| Form | Who files it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| WC-100 — Employer’s Basic Report of Injury | Your employer | Reports your injury to the WDCA and the insurance carrier. Required immediately when the injury causes disability beyond seven consecutive days, death, or a specific loss. |
| WC-117 — Employee’s Report of Claim | You | Lets you report the claim yourself when your employer won’t. The agency processes it the same way it handles a WC-100 and notifies the employer and carrier. |
| WC-107 — Notice of Dispute | The insurer | Notifies you that benefits are being denied, reduced, or stopped, and states the reason. |
| WC-104A — Application for Mediation or Hearing | You | Opens a contested case and assigns your file to a magistrate. This is the form that forces the fight. |
The critical point: filing a WC-117 is not the same as winning benefits. It gets your claim on the record and into the system. If the carrier still refuses to pay, you need the WC-104A.
What If My Employer Doesn’t Have Workers’ Comp Insurance?
This is the reason behind a large share of refusals, and Michigan law comes down hard on it.
- Most Michigan employers must carry coverage. Private employers generally need workers’ comp insurance if they regularly employ three or more people at one time, or employ even one person for 35 or more hours per week for 13 or more weeks in the preceding 52. All public employers must carry it regardless of size.
- An uninsured employer still owes you benefits. Not having insurance does not erase the obligation. It just means the money has to come from somewhere else.
- It is a criminal misdemeanor. Under MCL 418.641, failing to comply carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both — and each day of noncompliance is a separate offense.
- Officers and directors can be personally liable. If the company is a corporation and cannot satisfy the obligation, its officers and directors are individually, jointly, and severally on the hook.
- You may be able to sue them directly. Michigan’s exclusive remedy rule normally blocks an employee from suing an employer for a work injury. An employer that violates the coverage requirement loses that shield — MCL 418.641(2) allows the employee to recover damages in a civil action. That can open the door to categories of damages workers’ comp never pays.
- The state can shut the doors. Under MCL 418.645, a court can enjoin an uninsured employer from employing anyone at all until it complies.
If your employer told you “we don’t have insurance, so there’s nothing you can do,” they had it exactly backwards. That is the situation where they have the most to lose.
What If My Employer Says I’m an Independent Contractor?
Getting a 1099 instead of a W-2 does not decide the question. Michigan law defines employment status under MCL 418.161, using criteria drawn from the IRS’s own test — not from whatever label your employer chose to write on a tax form.
Misclassification is common in construction, trucking and delivery, landscaping, restaurant work, cleaning services, home health, and gig-style staffing arrangements. If your employer controlled your schedule, supplied your tools or vehicle, told you how to do the work, and you worked primarily for them, there is a strong argument you were an employee — regardless of what the paperwork said. Misclassified workers in Michigan have recovered full workers’ comp benefits many times over.
Can My Employer Fire Me for Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim?
No. MCL 418.301(13) makes it illegal for an employer to discharge you or discriminate against you in any manner because you filed a workers’ compensation claim, caused a proceeding to be started, or exercised a right under the Act.
That protection matters, but be realistic about how it plays out. Michigan is an at-will state, and employers who want to retaliate rarely announce it. Watch for:
- A sudden write-up for something that was never an issue before
- A performance improvement plan appearing days after you reported
- Being cut back to a handful of hours
- A transfer to a harder shift, a worse location, or a job outside your restrictions
- Being told to “just use your own health insurance” and let it go
- Being pressured to say the injury happened at home
- Being laid off in a “restructuring” that only affects you
If any of that starts after you report an injury, save the timeline — dates, texts, emails, names — and call a Michigan workers compensation lawyer. A retaliation claim is separate from your workers’ comp case and can be worth pursuing on its own.
Things Not to Do When Your Employer Refuses
- Do not accept an under-the-table arrangement. “We’ll just pay your medical bills, no need to file” almost always ends the moment the treatment gets expensive — usually right when you need an MRI or surgery. There’s no enforceable agreement, no record, and no wage loss benefits.
- Do not say the injury happened at home. If you’re pressured into this, it can damage your claim permanently and create problems well beyond workers’ comp.
- Do not just run it through your private health insurance and stay quiet. Health insurers routinely deny or later seek reimbursement for work-related treatment, and you lose your record of a work injury.
- Do not wait to “see if it gets better.” Every day of delay is a day the insurer will point to later. Your 90-day notice deadline and 2-year claim deadline do not pause because your employer was uncooperative.
- Do not give a recorded statement to an adjuster without advice. Adjusters are trained to lock in answers about pre-existing conditions and prior injuries.
- Do not skip medical appointments. Treatment gaps are the number one weapon used against injured workers in Michigan.
- Do not argue it out with your boss for weeks. Fighting with an employer over a claim rarely works. File the WC-117 and let the state handle the notice.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
| Deadline | What it applies to |
|---|---|
| Same day | Best practice for reporting your injury — protects your credibility |
| 90 days | Legal deadline to give your employer notice of the injury (MCL 418.381) |
| 2 years | Deadline to make a claim, measured from the date of injury, the date the disability manifested, or your last day of employment — whichever is latest |
| Back rules | Michigan limits how far back benefits can be recovered from the date you file your application. Waiting can permanently cost you money you were owed. |
| 30 days | Appealing a magistrate’s decision to the Workers’ Disability Compensation Appeals Commission |
An employer’s refusal to file does not extend any of these. That is the trap. Workers spend three months trying to get their supervisor to do the right thing, and the delay ends up hurting them, not the company.
What Should Be Happening Once the Claim Is On File
Once your claim is properly reported, Michigan law expects movement:
- Medical treatment is covered from day one. There is no waiting period for medical benefits.
- Wage loss benefits kick in after a 7-day waiting period. If you’re off more than seven consecutive days, you’re entitled to benefits starting on the eighth day. If you’re off 14 days or more, that first week is paid back to you.
- Your first check is due on the 14th day after your employer has notice or knowledge of your disability.
- Wage loss pays 80% of your after-tax average weekly wage, based on your highest 39 of the last 52 weeks — including overtime, bonuses, discontinued fringe benefits, and a second job you can no longer work. The 2026 maximum is $1,201.00 per week.
If none of that is happening, your claim is being disputed in practice even if nobody has said so out loud.
Frequently Asked Questions
My employer refuses to file my workers’ comp claim in Michigan. What do I do? File Form WC-117, the Employee’s Report of Claim, directly with the Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency. The state notifies your employer and its insurance carrier. You do not need your employer’s cooperation.
Where do I get Form WC-117? It’s available on the WDCA’s website, or you can call the agency at 888-396-5041 and request it be mailed to you.
Is my employer legally required to report my injury? Yes. Michigan’s rules require an employer to report immediately on Form WC-100 any work injury or disease causing disability beyond seven consecutive days, death, or a specific loss.
Does filing WC-117 mean I’ll get benefits? Not automatically. It puts your claim on the record. If benefits are still denied or unpaid, you file Form WC-104A to open a contested case before a magistrate.
What if my employer has no workers’ comp insurance? They still owe you benefits. It’s also a misdemeanor carrying up to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, with each day a separate offense. Officers and directors can be personally liable, and you may be able to sue the employer directly in civil court.
Can my employer fire me for filing? No. MCL 418.301(13) prohibits discharge or discrimination for filing a claim or exercising rights under the Act. Retaliation can support its own legal claim.
My boss offered to pay cash instead of filing. Should I? No. It isn’t enforceable, it typically stops when treatment gets expensive, and it leaves you with no record while your deadlines keep running.
My employer says I’m a 1099 contractor. That label doesn’t control. Michigan decides employment status under MCL 418.161. Misclassified workers regularly win benefits.
What if I already reported it weeks ago and nothing has happened? That’s a refusal in practice. File the WC-117 now and get an attorney to check whether a WC-104A should follow.
Does it cost anything to have a lawyer handle this? No money up front. Michigan workers’ comp attorney fees are capped by statute and administrative rule, must be approved by a magistrate, and are only paid out of benefits recovered.
I work for a small shop with two employees. Am I covered? Possibly. Coverage can be triggered by three or more employees at one time, or by a single employee working 35+ hours a week for 13 or more weeks in the prior 52. Have it checked rather than assuming.
I’m undocumented. Can I still file? Talk to an attorney about your specific situation before assuming you have no options. Do not let an employer use your status to talk you out of getting medical care.
Don’t Let Your Employer Decide Whether You Get Paid — Call 248-704-2542
An employer refusing to file a claim is not the end of your case. It’s usually the start of a stronger one — especially if the reason they refused is that they never carried the coverage Michigan law required.
But it only works if you move. Every week you spend waiting on your supervisor to do the right thing is a week of unpaid bills, untreated injuries, and a deadline getting closer.
Steele Law represents injured workers across all of Michigan — Flint, Detroit, Pontiac, Warren, Sterling Heights, Livonia, Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Bay City, Muskegon, Port Huron, Jackson, Battle Creek, Traverse City, and every county in between. Auto and manufacturing workers, nurses and health care staff, truck drivers, warehouse and delivery workers, construction trades, restaurant and hotel staff, and public employees.
Workers’ compensation is what we do. Over 30 years of experience. Thousands of cases handled. If your injuries keep you from coming to us, we’ll come to you.
Call Steele Law right now at 248-704-2542 for your free consultation. No fees up front. No fee unless we win. Bring us the refusal — we’ll handle the rest.
