Welcome back to our fifth and final week of the Massachusetts workers compensation September Series! The month certainly flew by quick. To close our series, we will be discussing Survivors’ and Dependents’ Benefits.

This type of benefit is much different than the others. Individuals who qualify are those who are the spouse or child of an employee who has died due to a work-related injury or illness. A spouse is able to receive benefits for as long as they are dependent and unmarried.

While a spouse is always eligible, children are only eligible if they are under 18 years of age, full-time students and/or unable to work due to physical or mental disabilities.

Benefits include:

• Weekly benefits equal to two-thirds of the deceased worker’s average weekly wage
• Eligibility for yearly cost-of-living adjustments, two years after injury and/or illness
• A weekly wage of $60 to each eligible child (if spouse remarries)

To learn more about this type of workers compensation benefit, head over to Mass.gov or contact Wolpert Insurance.

Our agency sincerely hopes that you have found our Massachusetts workers compensation September Series to be both helpful and educational. Here, we strive to keep business owners “in the know” when it comes to workers comp—whether we provide updates, news, or valuable information.

If you have missed out on any of the last few posts of the series, have no fear. We have provided direct links at the bottom of this post. Thank you for tuning in!

Week 1: Temporary Total Incapacity Benefits
Week 2: Medical Benefits
Week 3: Partial Incapacity & Permanent and Total Incapacity
Week 4: Permanent Loss of Function and Disfigurement Benefits