Worker's compensation: other; procedure for claims referred to the small claims division of the worker's compensation agency; modify. Amends sec. 841 of 1969 PA 317 (MCL 418.841). TIE BAR WITH: HB 5181'25
HB 5189 would revise the procedure for certain workers’ compensation disputes handled in the small claims division of the Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency. The bill keeps the existing framework that allows a claimant to request small-claims handling for lower-value disputes, but it expands and clarifies how those cases are processed, including notice to opposing parties, the ability of an opposing party to remove the case to the regular hearing track, and the role of worker’s compensation magistrates in hearing and deciding the matter.
The bill also changes several evidentiary and procedural rules for small-claims workers’ compensation cases. It bars attorney representation in that division unless the case is removed to the regular process, allows self-representation or an authorized agent, limits use of depositions, permits medical reports, and states that expert testimony is not required. It further provides that hearings are not recorded, that magistrates need not issue a written opinion explaining their reasoning, and that decisions are final and generally nonappealable absent fraud, while preserving the ability to bring other unresolved disputes through the regular section 847 process. The bill is tie-barred to HB 5081, meaning it would not take effect unless that related bill becomes law.
HB 5189 would amend section 841 of the Worker's Disability Compensation Act of 1969, affecting the handling of small-value workers’ compensation claims before the bureau and worker’s compensation magistrates. It would alter the threshold for removal from small claims to the regular hearing process from $2,000 to $10,000, change the evidentiary rules and hearing procedures for those cases, and limit appeals by making small-claims decisions final except in cases of fraud. These changes would directly affect injured workers, employers, insurers/carriers, and attorneys involved in workers’ compensation disputes.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge broad sentiment. Based on the bill’s structure, it appears designed to streamline and simplify low-dollar workers’ compensation disputes, which suggests a policy goal of faster, less formal resolution. The tie-bar to another bill also indicates the proposal is part of a broader legislative package rather than a standalone procedural change.
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s limits on attorney involvement, the elimination of a hearing record, the removal of any requirement for a written opinion, and the final/nonappealable nature of small-claims decisions. Those provisions may be viewed as improving efficiency and reducing costs by supporters, but as reducing procedural protections and appellate review by opponents. The increase in the dollar threshold for removal to the regular process, from $2,000 to $10,000, may also be debated because it changes which disputes remain in the simplified forum versus the more formal hearing track.