Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
After a workplace injury, light duty can be a legitimate bridge back to work. It can also be a pressure tool, used to reduce wage-replacement benefits, create paper trails that suggest you’re fine, and set up disputes about what you’re capable of earning. In 2026, we continue to see the same playbook: a worker gets hurt, is treated appropriately, and then the insurer and employer quickly pivot to a return-to-work narrative that may not match medical reality.
Massachusetts provides partial incapacity benefits under M.G.L. c. 152, §35 for injured workers who can work in some capacity but have reduced earning ability due to the injury. Section 35 sets out the core formula: the insurer pays weekly compensation equal to 60% of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and the weekly wage you are capable of earning after the injury, with a cap tied to total incapacity benefits.
Understanding that formula is important. But in practice, most Section 35 fights aren’t about the formula itself. They’re about the inputs: what your average weekly wage really is, what work you’re medically allowed to do, and what wages you can realistically earn in the open labor market with your restrictions.