Montana Workers' Compensation: Deadlines, Benefits and How to File

The Workers' Compensation Act applies to all employers and employees: an employer with any employee must elect to be bound by one of the compensation plans (No. 1, 2 or 3) set out in the Act. Exempt unless coverage is elected include household or domestic employment, casual employment, dependent family members and an employer's spouse, sole proprietors and working partners or LLC members, commission-only real estate, securities and insurance salespeople, direct sellers, interstate railroad workers, amateur sports officials, certain corporate officers and LLC managers, clergy, musicians under written contract, contact-sport athletes, and people holding an independent contractor exemption certificate, among others.

Notice of the time and place of the accident and the nature of the injury must be given to the employer or its insurer within 30 days after the accident, by the worker or someone on the worker's behalf. Actual knowledge of the accident and injury by the employer or the supervisor in charge counts as notice.

A written claim, signed by the worker or the worker's representative, must be presented to the employer, the insurer or the Department within 12 months after the accident. The insurer may extend this by up to 24 more months if the worker shows lack of knowledge of the disability, a latent injury or equitable estoppel. For an occupational disease, the claim is due within 1 year after the worker knew or should have known the condition resulted from an occupational disease. A petition to the Workers' Compensation Court must be filed within 2 years after benefits are denied.

Wage-loss compensation is not paid for the first 32 hours or 4 days of lost wages, whichever is less; benefits start on the 5th day. If the worker is totally disabled and unable to work in any capacity for 21 days or longer, compensation is paid back to the first day of total wage loss. Medical benefits are provided from the date of injury.

Temporary total disability is 66 2/3% of the worker's wages at the time of injury, up to a maximum equal to the state's average weekly wage at the time of injury. It is paid until the worker reaches maximum healing or is released to return to the same or similar work. Benefits are reduced by one-half of any Social Security disability benefits payable because of the injury.

For injuries from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, the maximum weekly rate is $1,192.00 for temporary total, permanent total, temporary partial, rehabilitation and death benefits, and $596.00 for permanent partial disability. The minimum weekly death benefit for that period is $596.00, but not more than the worker's actual wages at the time of death.

The worker may choose the doctor for initial treatment. Any time after the insurer accepts liability, it may designate or approve a treating physician, or direct the worker to a managed care or preferred provider organization after giving individual written notice; after that, care from other providers is not covered unless the insurer authorizes it (emergency care is allowed). The treating physician coordinates care under Montana's utilization and treatment guidelines. Medical benefits generally close 60 months after the date of injury, with a limited process to reopen them.

Permanent partial disability requires a permanent impairment rating under the AMA Guides (6th edition) and actual wage loss; a worker with no wage loss but a Class 2 or higher whole-person impairment receives an impairment award only. The award is the impairment rating plus added percentages for age over 40, less than 12 years of education, wage loss and reduced ability to do heavy or medium labor, multiplied by 400 weeks, paid at 66 2/3% of wages up to one-half of the state's average weekly wage. Permanent total disability is paid at 66 2/3% of wages, up to the state's average weekly wage, for as long as the worker is permanently totally disabled, with a cost-of-living adjustment after 104 weeks.

If a work injury causes death, beneficiaries receive weekly benefits of 66 2/3% of the worker's wages, up to the state's average weekly wage, with a minimum of 50% of the state's average weekly wage (but not more than the worker's actual wages). A surviving spouse is paid for 500 weeks or until remarriage, whichever comes first; benefits then go to other eligible beneficiaries such as children. If there is no beneficiary, $3,000 is paid to the worker's surviving parent or parents. Reasonable burial expenses are paid up to $10,000, separate from other compensation.

Report the injury to your employer. A First Report of Injury form starts the claim; if your employer has not filed one, you can get the form from the Department or your local job service office, or call (406) 444-6543 for help. The claim must be in writing and signed by you or your representative. The insurer has 30 days after receiving a signed claim to investigate and determine liability, and once a claim is accepted wage-loss payments are due within 14 days. If your employer had no coverage, contact the Department's Uninsured Employers' Fund.

Most benefit disputes must first go through the Department's free, confidential, nonbinding mediation. Before petitioning for mediation, the worker must give the insurer a specific written demand and allow 15 working days for a written response. If mediation does not resolve the dispute, the mediator issues a written recommendation and either party may petition the Workers' Compensation Court, which must be done within 2 years after benefits are denied. Decisions of the Workers' Compensation Court can be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.

An employer may not fire a worker for filing a workers' compensation claim; disputes over the grounds for firing are heard in district court. A worker who can return to work within 2 years after the injury and has a medical release must be given preference over other applicants for a comparable vacant position with the same employer that fits the worker's physical condition and abilities.

Temporary total disability benefits have no fixed week limit; they are paid until the worker reaches maximum healing or is released to return to the job held at the time of injury (or one with similar physical requirements), and they can end earlier if the worker is released to a same, modified or alternative job with the same employer at equal or higher pay. Temporary partial disability benefits apply to a worker with restrictions before maximum healing who earns less in approved modified work; the statute sets no week limit. Permanent total disability benefits are paid for the duration of the permanent total disability, but they end (along with permanent partial disability benefits other than the impairment award) once the worker receives or is eligible for full Social Security retirement benefits or an equivalent retirement benefit. Permanent partial disability awards are calculated as a percentage of 400 weeks, with the rating capped at 100%.

Yes. An agreement that settles a claim for any type of benefit is subject to approval by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry; if the department does not approve or disapprove it in writing within 14 days of filing, it is treated as approved. Once approved, it is a compromise and release settlement that the department may not reopen. Medical benefits on an accepted claim can be settled only if the worker has reached maximum medical improvement, the worker and insurer mutually agree, and the settlement is in the parties' best interest; the worker must sign an acknowledgment of which medical benefits will end. A lump-sum payment of permanent total disability benefits requires a showing of financial need.

The Workers' Compensation Section of Montana's Employment Relations Division (Department of Labor & Industry) offers Claims Assistance: it answers injured workers' questions about the system, acts as a liaison between injured workers and their insurance adjusters, and runs the Stay at Work/Return to Work program, which can help even when the insurer cannot be identified. Call for assistance: 406-444-2840; Employment Standards Division: (406) 444-6543.

A claimant's attorney must file a fee contract with the Montana Department of Labor & Industry on the department's form, and the department may regulate the fee in any workers' compensation case; an attorney who violates the rules forfeits the fees. Where the claim is not disputed, no fee may be charged on temporary total disability paid during healing or on medical benefits. Fee disputes are resolved by the Workers' Compensation Court.

Generally no: for covered employment, workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy and an insured employer is not otherwise liable for an employee's injury or death. Exceptions: an uninsured employer can be sued under the uninsured-employer provisions, and a worker who is intentionally injured by a deliberate act of the employer or a co-worker may sue that person in addition to receiving benefits. Intentional injury means an act specifically and actually intended to injure the worker with actual knowledge that injury is certain, proven by clear and convincing evidence; the employer is not vicariously liable for a co-worker's intentional act.

Yes. A worker injured by someone other than the employer or co-workers may sue that party in addition to receiving workers' compensation. The insurer has a first-lien subrogation right on the recovery for benefits paid or to be paid, but gets full subrogation only if the worker cannot show damages beyond the benefits and recovery combined; if the insurer declines to share the costs of the suit, it waives 50% of its subrogation. The worker must give the insurer reasonable notice before filing, and if the worker does not sue within 1 year of the injury, the insurer may sue in the worker's name.

Montana's Uninsured Employers' Fund pays an injured employee of an uninsured employer the benefits the worker would have received had the employer been insured (no lump-sum payments of future benefits, and medical benefits are limited to $100,000 per claim). The worker also has an independent lawsuit against the uninsured employer for the compensation that would have been due, plus attorney fees and costs, and in a damages suit the employer loses defenses such as the worker's ordinary negligence or assumption of risk. The department can assess the employer a penalty of up to double the premium it should have paid (or $200, whichever is greater) and recovers all benefits the fund pays. A dispute over fund benefits must go to mediation within 90 days of the department's decision.

Most benefit disputes must first go to a Department of Labor and Industry mediator, after the worker makes a specific written demand and allows the insurer 15 working days to respond. If mediation does not resolve it, a petition to the Workers' Compensation Court must be filed within 2 years after benefits are denied. A final decision of the Workers' Compensation Judge is appealed directly to the Montana Supreme Court in the manner used for civil appeals from district court. Uninsured Employers' Fund disputes have shorter limits: 90 days to mediation, then 60 days after the mediator's report to petition the court.