Chapter 152

Section 1. The following words as used in this chapter shall, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context or specifically prescribed, have the following meanings: (1) ''Average weekly wages'', the earnings of the injured employee during the period of twelve cale…

Section 10. (1) Any claim for benefits shall be filed with the division of administration and the insurer on a form prescribed by the division, and shall specifically state the benefits claimed to be due and unpaid. No claim for weekly compensation shall be accepted by the depart…

Section 10A. (1) On referral from the division of administration of a claim for compensation or a complaint for modification or discontinuance of benefits, said claim or complaint shall be immediately assigned to an administrative judge. Except where events beyond the control of …

Section 10B. (1) At any time prior to five days before a conference held pursuant to section ten A, the parties to a claim or complaint may agree to refer the matter to an independent arbitrator; provided, however, that such arbitrator shall not have appeared before an administra…

Section 10C. (1) Any employer, and the recognized or certified and exclusive representative of its employees may agree by collective bargaining to establish certain binding obligations and procedures relating to workers' compensation; provided, however, that the scope of the agre…

Section 11. At the hearing the member shall make such inquiries and investigations as he deems necessary, and may require and receive any documentary or oral matter not previously obtained as shall enable him to issue a decision with respect to the issues before him. Such decisio…

Section 11A. (1) With the assistance of the medical consultant to the commissioner and the administrative judges, the senior judge shall periodically review and update a roster of impartial medical examiners who are certified specialists in various medical fields and who are will…

Section 11B. Procedures within the division of dispute resolution shall be as simple and summary as reasonable. The commissioner shall promulgate rules providing for the use of depositions and interrogatories. In any proceeding under this chapter, the division shall give notice o…

Section 11C. Any party aggrieved by a decision of an administrative judge after a hearing held pursuant to section eleven shall have thirty days from the filing date of such decision within which to file an appeal from said decision to the reviewing board. A party who has by mist…

Section 11D. (1) Any employee entitled to receive weekly compensation under this chapter shall have an affirmative duty to report to the insurer all earnings, including wages or salary earned from self-employment. Insurers shall notify employees of said duty on a form approved by…

Section 12. (1) Whenever any party in interest presents a certified copy of an order or decision of a board member or of the reviewing board and any papers in connection therewith to the superior court department of the trial court for the county in which the injury occurred or f…

Section 12A. If on appeal to the appeals court or the supreme judicial court pursuant to section twelve the claimant prevails, the court shall allow the claimant, in addition to the award in the judgement, an amount equal to the reasonable cost of his attorney's fees, briefs and …

Section 13. (1) The rate of payment by insurers for health care services adjudged compensable under this chapter shall be established by the executive office of health and human services under chapter 118E or a governmental unit designated by the executive office; provided, howev…

Section 13A. (1) Whenever an insurer contests an initial liability claim for benefits submitted on a form prescribed by the department, by failing to commence the compensation requested within twenty-one days of receipt of such claim, and then, at any time prior to a conference h…

Section 14. (1) Except as provided in subsection three, if any administrative judge or administrative law judge determines that any proceedings have been brought, prosecuted, or defended by an insurer without reasonable grounds: (a) the whole cost of the proceedings shall be asse…

Section 14A. (1) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:— (a) ''Client company'', a person, association, partnership, corporation or other entity that utilizes workers provided by an employee leasing company pursuant to a contract. (b) ''Co…

Section 15. Where the injury for which compensation is payable was caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other than the insured to pay damages in respect thereof, the employee shall be entitled, without election, to the compensation and other benefi…

Section 15A. If one or more claims are filed for an injury and two or more insurers, any one of which may be held to be liable to pay compensation therefor, agree that the injured employee would be entitled to receive such compensation but for the existence of a controversy as to…

Section 16. When in any case before the department it appears that compensation has been paid or when in any such case there appears of record a finding that the employee is entitled to compensation, no subsequent finding by a member or the reviewing board discontinuing compensat…

Section 17. All orders or decisions issued in accordance with this chapter shall be enforceable under section twelve unless and until reversed by a decision of a member of the board or a reviewing board, or a judgement or decision of a court of the commonwealth; and payment of co…

Section 18. If an insured person enters into a contract, written or oral, with an independent contractor to do such person's work, or if such a contractor enters into a contract with a sub-contractor to do all or any part of the work comprised in such contract with the insured, a…

Section 19. (1) Except as otherwise provided by section seven, any payment of compensation shall be by written agreement by the parties and subject to the approval of the department. Any other questions arising under this chapter may be so settled by agreement. Said agreements sh…

Section 2. The department shall make all necessary inspections and investigations relating to causes of injuries for which compensation may be claimed, and for this purpose any board member or employee thereof may at any time enter places of employment when being used for busines…

Section 20. Copies of hospital records kept in accordance with section seventy of chapter one hundred and eleven, certified by the persons in custody thereof to be true and complete, shall be admissible in evidence in proceedings before the division or any member thereof. The div…

Section 20A. Any employer who maintains a clinic, dispensary or hospital for the treatment of injured employees and any insurer who maintains a clinic, dispensary or hospital for the treatment of injured employees of any insured shall, upon request of any injured employee attendi…

Section 20B. In proceedings before the industrial accident board, the medical report of an incapacitated, disabled or deceased physician who attended or examined the employee, including expressions of medical opinion, shall, at the discretion of the member, be admissible as evide…

Section 21. Every insured person shall, as soon as he secures a policy, give written or printed notice to all persons under contract of hire with him that he has provided for payment to injured employees by the insurer, or by self-insurance, as provided by this chapter.

Section 22. Every insured person shall give written or printed notice to every person with whom he is about to enter into a contract of hire that he has provided for payment to injured employees by the insurer or by means of self-insurance as provided in this chapter. An employer…

Section 23. If an employee files any claim or accepts payment of compensation on account of personal injury under this chapter, or submits to a proceeding before the department under sections ten to twelve, inclusive, such action shall constitute a release to the insurer of all c…

Section 24. An employee shall be held to have waived his right of action at common law or under the law of any other jurisdiction in respect to an injury that is compensable under this chapter, to recover damages for personal injuries, if he shall not have given his employer, at …

Section 25. If an insured person who has complied with the rules, regulations and demands of the insurer is required by a judgment of a court to pay to an employee any damages on account of personal injury sustained by such employee during the period covered by insurance, the ins…

Section 25A. In order to promote the health, safety and welfare of employees, every employer shall provide for the payment to his employees of the compensation provided for by this chapter in the following manner: (1) By insurance with an insurer or by membership in a workers' co…

Section 25B. Section twenty-five A shall not apply to the commonwealth, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Port Authority or the various counties, cities, towns and districts provided for in sections sixty-nine …

Section 25C. (1) Whenever the commissioner or his designee determines that an employer who is required to provide for the payment to his employees of the compensation provided for by the chapter has failed to do so, a stop work order shall be served on said employer, requiring th…

Section 25D. A self-insurer may engage a service company, third party administrator, or like organization to investigate, adjust or settle claims under this chapter. The insurance commissioner shall promulgate regulations governing the conduct and practices of service companies, …

Section 25E. Sections twenty-five E to 25W inclusive, shall apply to workers' compensation self-insurance groups. A workers' compensation self-insurance group that is issued a certificate of approval by the commissioner shall not be deemed to be insurers or insurance companies an…

Section 25F. No person, association, or entity shall act as a workers' compensation self-insurance group unless it has been issued a certificate of approval by the commissioner of insurance.

Section 25G. (1) A proposed workers' compensation self-insurance group shall file with the commissioner of insurance its application for a certificate of approval accompanied by a nonrefundable filing fee in the amount of one hundred dollars. The application shall include the gro…

Section 25H. (1) The certificate of approval issued by the commissioner of insurance to a workers' compensation self-insurance group authorizes the group to provide workers' compensation benefits. The certificate of approval remains in effect until terminated at the request of th…

Section 25I. The commissioner of insurance shall examine the affairs, transactions, accounts, records and assets of each group as often as the commissioner deems advisable, but not less often than once every three years. The expense of such examinations shall be assessed against …

Section 25J. (1) Each group shall be operated by a board of trustees which shall consist of not less than three persons whom the members of a group elect for stated terms of office. At least two of the trustees shall be employees, officers or directors of members of the group, ex…

Section 25K. (1) An employer joining a workers' compensation self-insurance group after the group has been issued a certificate of approval shall submit an application for membership to the board of trustees or its administrator and, unless the employer is a public employer, ente…

Section 25L. Except for the trustees, officers, directors or salaried employees of a group or its administrator, any person soliciting membership in a workers' compensation self-insurance group must be a licensed agent as provided by section sixty-three of chapter one hundred and…

Section 25M. No person shall make a material misrepresentation or omission of a material fact in connection with the solicitation of a membership of a group.

Section 25N. Each group shall submit to the commissioner of insurance thirty days prior to the end of its policy year a performance report estimating total outstanding liability, including incurred but not reported claims, for that policy year. Each group shall submit to the comm…

Section 25O. (1) Every workers' compensation self-insurance group shall adhere to the uniform classification system, uniform experience rating plan, and manual rules filed with the commissioner of insurance by an advisory organization designated by said commissioner. (2) Premium …

Section 25P. Any monies for a fund year in excess of the amount necessary to fund all obligations for such fund year may be declared to be refundable by the board of trustees not less than six months after the end of the fund year. Each member shall be given a written description…

Section 25Q. (1) Each group shall establish with the approval of the commissioner of insurance a premium payment plan which shall include an initial payment by each member of at least twenty-five per cent of that member's annual premium before the start of the group's fund year a…

Section 25R. If the assets of a group are at any time insufficient to enable the group to discharge its legal liabilities and other obligations and to maintain the reserves required of it under this chapter, it shall forthwith make up the deficiency or levy an assessment on its m…

Section 25S. After notice and opportunity for a hearing, the commissioner of insurance may impose a monetary penalty on any person or group found to be in violation of any of the provisions of sections twenty-five E to twenty-five U, inclusive, or of any rules or regulations prom…