Michigan Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Michigan: what's different

Section 611 of the Worker's Disability Compensation Act lists only two ways to secure coverage: a policy from an authorized insurer, or self-insurance approved by the Workers' Disability Compensation Agency (WDCA), part of the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. A state fund is not one of them. Prices have been set competitively since 1983, with each insurer filing its own rates with the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS). The Compensation Advisory Organization of Michigan (CAOM) publishes the state's advisory pure premiums and runs the assigned risk pool.

Who must carry coverage

Section 115 of the Worker's Disability Compensation Act uses two tests for private, non-farm employers. You are covered if you regularly employ 3 or more people at one time, and the WDCA counts part-timers toward that number. You are also covered with fewer than 3 if even one of them has worked for you 35 or more hours a week for 13 weeks or longer in the past 52 weeks. Public employers are covered regardless of size.

Other rules worth knowing:

• Farms. Coverage applies with 3 or more regular hourly or salaried workers (not piece-rate) who work 35 or more hours a week for 13 or more consecutive weeks. A farm with even 1 worker on 35-hour weeks for 5 consecutive weeks must still provide medical and hospital coverage for work injuries.
• Household workers. You owe nothing under the Act to a domestic worker employed less than 35 hours a week for 13 weeks or longer in the past 52 weeks.
• Corporate officers. In a corporation with no more than 10 stockholders, an officer who owns at least 10% of the stock can opt out by written notice to the insurer, with the board's consent endorsed on it.
• LLC members. The same 10% rule applies to a manager-member of an LLC with no more than 10 members.
• Partners and family. A policy endorsement can exclude named partners, or the employer's spouse, child, or parent.
• Sole proprietors are never employees of their own business, according to the WDCA.

If everyone on your payroll fits an exclusion, you can file a Notice of Exclusion (Form WC-337) with the WDCA instead of buying a policy. The WDCA says this option is closed to a business that uses subcontractors.

For contractors, Section 171 makes the hiring contractor (the principal) pay benefits to an injured worker of an uninsured subcontractor, then lets the principal recover from that sub. WDCA guidance tells general contractors to collect a certificate of insurance or a filed exclusion form from subs that have employees or are partnerships, corporations, or LLCs.

Where coverage comes from

Section 611 allows two methods:

1. A policy from an authorized insurer. One policy must cover all of an employer's businesses and activities. For a single construction site costing over $65 million and finishing in 5 years or less, the WDCA director can permit a separate "wrap-up" policy.
2. Self-insurance. The WDCA director grants it to an individual employer that shows solvency and the ability to pay benefits, and may require a bond or other security. Two or more employers in the same industry with combined assets of $1,000,000 or more can pool their liabilities as a group self-insurer.

The Act's former accident fund sections were repealed in 2011.

Who sets rates

Rates are not set by a state bureau. Each insurer files all of its rates and rating systems with DIFS no later than the date they take effect, and a filing stands unless the director disapproves it. CAOM publishes the Data Collection Agency's advisory pure premiums each year. These cover losses, loss adjustment expenses, and loss-based expenses per $100 of payroll, but leave out profit, trend, and other expenses. Carriers may add their own expense loads, or set rates without using them at all.

CAOM's 1/1/2027 advisory pure premiums show an average change of 0.0% from 2026, with contracting classes down 2.2%. The 1/1/2026 pure premiums had dropped 3.3% on average.

Michigan law also bans the single enterprise rule. If you supply payroll for each operation, an insurer must classify separate operations in separate classes when you ask.

Experience rating

Every insurer must have a merit rating plan that adjusts premium for loss experience. CAOM maintains a statewide Experience Rating Plan, and its October 2026 circular says most voluntary carriers build it into their own plans, which each must file with DIFS. CAOM calculates experience and merit modifications.

In the Placement Facility, a risk qualifies for experience rating with at least $10,000 of manual premium in the last one or two years of the experience period, or an average of $5,000 a year over a longer period. Some smaller Facility risks that fall short of that test get a merit modification based on lost-time claims instead: 0.95 with none, 1.00 with one, and 1.05 with two. The manual states the premium floor for merit rating two different ways, so ask CAOM whether your premium qualifies.

If no insurer will write you

Every insurer authorized to write workers' comp in Michigan must take part in the Michigan Workers' Compensation Placement Facility, which exists to cover employers who cannot get insurance through ordinary channels. CAOM administers it. DIFS describes the Facility as a nonprofit, non-governmental association created by the Legislature in 1982, whose rates may run higher than private coverage. You apply online, and coverage is effective the day after you submit the application.

Facility rates for 1/1/2027 rise 2.2% on average, after a 9.3% average drop for 2026.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Criminal. Failing to secure coverage under Section 611 is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to 6 months in jail, or both. Each day without coverage is a separate offense.
• Civil suits. An injured worker of an uninsured employer can sue for damages despite the Act's exclusive remedy rule.
• Personal liability. If a judgment on an award goes unpaid after collection efforts against the business, corporate officers and directors, LLC managers who are also members, or LLP partners can each be held personally liable for the rest. The WDCA director can also sue an uninsured employer to recover amounts owed to the state's workplace health and safety fund.
• Court order. The WDCA says it can ask a court to bar you from employing anyone until you get coverage.

Your ongoing obligations

• Report injuries. File Form WC-100 with the WDCA for any injury causing a death, a specific loss, or disability lasting beyond 7 consecutive days (not counting the day of injury). Agency rules say to file immediately and give the worker a copy. A death also requires Form WC-106.
• Report benefit changes. Starting, changing, or stopping benefits is reported on Form WC-701.
• Tell your carrier. Weekly benefits paid more than 30 days late carry a penalty of $50 a day, up to $1,500. If you knew of the disability and did not notify your carrier, you pay that penalty for the time you failed to notify.
• Posters. Michigan law does not require a workers' comp posting. The WDCA encourages two posters, WC-PUB-005 and WC-PUB-006.
• No payroll deductions. You may not take premium out of wages.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

Premium = (payroll / 100) x rate per $100 x experience mod

Michigan has two roofing codes: 5551 (all kinds except flat) and 5552 (flat roofs only). CAOM's advisory pure premium for 5551 is $4.852 per $100 of payroll, effective January 1, 2026 ($4.622 from January 1, 2027). A pure premium excludes most insurer expenses and profit, so the example applies an illustrative 1.35 multiplier. Payroll and mod are hypothetical.

• Annual roofing payroll (hypothetical): $300,000
• Pure premium, code 5551: $4.852
• Illustrative multiplier: 1.35, so rate = $4.852 x 1.35 = $6.5502 per $100
• Experience mod (hypothetical): 1.08

Step by step

1. Payroll in hundreds: $300,000 / 100 = 3,000
2. Manual premium: 3,000 x $6.5502 = $19,650.60
3. Apply the mod: $19,650.60 x 1.08 = $21,222.65

For comparison, the Placement Facility's own 2027 rate for code 5551 is $6.447 per $100. Real quotes vary by carrier.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• MCL 418.115, Employers covered
• MCL 418.118, Domestic servants
• MCL 418.131, Exclusive remedy
• MCL 418.161, Employee defined; exclusions
• MCL 418.171, Principal and contractor
• MCL 418.611, Methods of securing payment
• MCL 418.621, Insurance contracts; construction site policies
• MCL 418.641, Noncompliance penalties
• MCL 418.647, Officer and member liability
• MCL 418.700 and 418.701a (repealed accident fund sections)
• MCL 418.801, Payment of compensation; penalties
• MCL 500.2301, Placement Facility participation
• MCL 500.2318, Facility classification and rating systems
• MCL 500.2406, Rate filings
• MCL 500.2407, Pure premium data
• MCL 500.2411, Classifications and merit rating
• WDCA, All Employer FAQs
• WDCA, Insurance Requirements
• WDCA, Employer Insurance Requirements (WC-PUB-002, April 2026)
• WDCA General Rules, R 408.31a (JCAR rule package 2020-031 LE)
• DIFS, Workers' Compensation FAQ
• CAOM, Statewide Advisory Pure Premiums effective 1/1/2027 (Circular #369)
• CAOM, Statewide Advisory Pure Premiums effective 1/1/2026
• CAOM, Placement Facility Assigned Risk Rates effective 1/1/2027 (Circular #323)
• CAOM, Placement Facility Assigned Risk Rates effective 1/1/2026
• CAOM, Circular #372, Member Experience Rating Plan Selections
• CAOM, Experience Rating Options
• CAOM, About Us
• CAOM, Assigned Risk FAQ
• MWCPF Basic Manual (Ed. 09/26), Experience Rating Plan
• CAOM/MWCPF Classification Definitions

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Michigan Workers' Disability Compensation Agency.

Reviewer: Sam Newland, CFP, Founder of Benefitra. Last updated October 17, 2026. How the calculator works. Editorial policy.