If you were hurt on the job in De Pere, Wisconsin law is supposed to cover your medical care and replace part of the wages you lose while you heal. In practice, collecting what the law owes you is rarely automatic. The clock starts running against you the day you are injured, the insurer investigates before it pays a dollar, and when a denial arrives it comes with a written reason — but seldom with the full picture of what you are actually owed. Understanding how the system works, and what it owes an injured worker, is the difference between a claim that pays and one that stalls out.

Mays Law Office represents injured workers across Wisconsin from our office in Middleton. We stand with injured workers through the paperwork, the disputes, and the hearings so you can put your attention where it belongs — on recovering. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you accept a denial or sign anything an insurer puts in front of you.

Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in De Pere, WI

Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays has focused on Wisconsin workers’ compensation for more than 25 years. She was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1995 and earned her J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School cum laude. She served on the Wisconsin Association of Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Board of Directors for District 7 from 2001 to 2025 — a long-standing role at the center of the state’s workers’ compensation bar.

That background matters because a workers’ compensation claim is a legal proceeding, not a form you fill out. Whether your wage benefits are figured correctly, whether a lasting impairment is rated the way it should be, and whether a denial holds up all turn on details the insurer has no duty to explain to you. Those are the questions we start asking at the first phone call.

When to Call a Workers’ Comp Lawyer

Reach out to us right away if any of these describe your situation:

• Your claim was denied, or the insurer says your injury did not happen at work.
• Wage-replacement checks stopped, are late, or are smaller than they should be.
• The insurer wants you seen by its own doctor for an “independent” medical examination.
• You have a permanent restriction and can’t go back to the job you had.
• You were pushed to settle before anyone knows the full extent of your injury.
• Your injury built up over time — a repetitive-strain or exposure condition — and the insurer disputes that work caused it.
• You’re being steered toward a doctor you did not choose.

What Workers’ Compensation Pays in Wisconsin

If a work injury keeps you off the job in Wisconsin, the law replaces part of your lost income and covers your medical care. While you are healing and unable to work, Temporary Total Disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a state maximum that changes by injury year. For injuries in 2025 that ceiling is $1,254 per week; for injuries on or after January 1, 2026, it rises to $1,299 per week. If you can work in a lighter or part-time role but earn less than before, Temporary Partial Disability makes up a share of that wage gap. When an injury leaves lasting impairment, Permanent Partial Disability applies. Scheduled injuries — to arms, legs, hands, feet, or vision and hearing — pay a percentage of a set number of weeks based on your functional loss. Unscheduled injuries to the back, spine, or head are measured against a whole-person or earning-capacity standard, up to a 1,000-week base; the maximum PPD rate is $446 per week in 2025 and $454 per week effective April 1, 2026. If an injury permanently ends your working life, Permanent Total Disability pays at the TTD rate for life. Should a worker die, eligible dependents can receive death benefits — generally subject to a maximum of four times the worker’s average annual wage — plus a burial allowance capped at $10,000. Throughout, reasonable and necessary medical treatment is covered in full, and you are reimbursed for mileage to and from appointments at 51 cents per mile.

Deadlines That Can Make or Break Your Claim

Timing decides many Wisconsin workers’ compensation claims, so the clock deserves your attention from day one. You have 30 days to report a work injury to your employer. A late report can be excused only if the employer knew — or reasonably should have known — of the injury, and cannot show it was significantly misled or disadvantaged by the delay. The deadline to formally pursue a claim depends on the injury. A single-event traumatic injury carries a six-year statute of limitations (for injuries on or after March 2, 2016); an occupational disease that builds over time carries twelve years. Each runs from the injury date or from the last indemnity payment, and every indemnity check resets that clock. Benefits do not start on the day you are hurt. Wisconsin applies a three-day waiting period (Sundays don’t count toward it unless you normally work Sundays), so wage-replacement begins after those three days. Those first three days are paid back to you if your disability lasts beyond seven calendar days. Under DWD’s administrative performance standard, insurers are measured on paying 80 percent of first indemnity payments within 14 days of the injury or last day worked — and separate penalties apply to late payments. From there the claim flows in a predictable order: you report the injury, the insurer investigates and either pays or denies, and any dispute over what you are owed moves into the state’s hearing process.

Workers’ Comp in De Pere: Local Reality

De Pere sits along the Fox River in Brown County, a node in northeastern Wisconsin’s industrial and commercial network and part of the broader Brown County and Fox Valley paper corridor. That corridor carries real risk. Paper and converting work in this region can involve large rolls of stock moving through multi-stage pressing and threading machinery, which carries a risk of severe crush injuries and amputations, alongside the cumulative wear of repetitive material handling — hazards reflected in Wisconsin’s elevated manufacturing injury rate. Health care work across the region carries a different risk profile: patient-handling and lifting strains, lumbar and shoulder injuries, and slip-and-fall incidents in clinical settings. When an injury like these stops a De Pere worker from earning a full wage, Wisconsin’s workers’ compensation system is the mechanism the law provides — and knowing how that system runs is what keeps a claim from stalling.

If a De Pere worker’s claim is denied or disputed, it moves into Wisconsin’s formal hearing system — and that system changed at the start of 2026. Since January 1, 2026, workers’ compensation hearings are handled by the Worker’s Compensation Division within the Department of Workforce Development, which reunited claim administration and adjudication under one agency. Hearing venues are assigned for the injured worker’s convenience, generally routing to the hearing office nearest the worker’s residence. De Pere is in Brown County, so a disputed De Pere claim is served by the DWD’s Green Bay hearing office. Administrative law judges there run a mediation program to try to settle cases before a formal hearing becomes necessary; if mediation does not resolve the dispute, the claim proceeds to a hearing with sworn testimony and cross-examination.

How We Fight Denied Claims

Insurers deny claims for many reasons. The most common grounds: they may argue the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment, that the injury was directly caused by a violation of the employer’s drug or alcohol policy, or that you willfully failed to use a required safety device or obey a reasonable safety rule — a defense that, if the employer proves it, cuts wage-replacement and death benefits (not medical coverage) by 15 percent, capped at $15,000. When an insurer denies liability, it must tell you in writing why, and it must advise you of your right to a hearing. You contest a denial by filing a Hearing Application, Form WKC-7, which also pauses the statute of limitations while your case is pending. Since January 1, 2026, the dispute moves through the Worker’s Compensation Division at the Department of Workforce Development, whose administrative law judges hear these cases. The judges run a mediation program to settle cases early; if that fails, your claim proceeds to a formal hearing with sworn testimony and cross-examination. A party unhappy with the judge’s decision has 21 days to petition the Labor and Industry Review Commission for review, and a LIRC ruling can then be appealed to circuit court. Two rights matter throughout. You may choose your own treating physician in Wisconsin (subject to the statute’s limits on the number of free choices), and the insurer may require you to attend an Independent Medical Examination — but it must reimburse your wages and mileage for that exam and give you a copy of the report. These are your rights under the law, not a promise of any particular result.

That last point is where cases can turn. An insurer’s “independent” medical examiner may rate your impairment lower than your own doctor, or attribute your injury to something other than work. When your doctor and the insurer’s doctor disagree, the dispute is resolved through the hearing process — and building that record correctly is exactly what our Wisconsin workers’ compensation practice is built to do.

De Pere Workers’ Comp Questions We Hear

Can I choose my own doctor?

Yes. Wisconsin law gives an injured worker the right to choose a treating physician licensed in the state, and that doctor’s findings and restrictions form the basis for what you are paid. The insurer may separately require you to attend an Independent Medical Examination with a doctor of its choosing — but it must reimburse your wages and mileage for that exam and give you a copy of the report.

How long do I have to file?

That depends on the type of injury. A single-event traumatic injury carries a six-year statute of limitations (for injuries on or after March 2, 2016). An occupational disease that develops over time carries twelve years. Both periods run from the date of injury or from the last indemnity payment — and each indemnity payment you receive resets the clock. Separately, you must report a work injury to your employer within 30 days.

How much does workers’ compensation pay?

For time missed while you heal, Temporary Total Disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a maximum that varies by injury year — $1,254 per week for 2025 injuries and $1,299 per week for injuries on or after January 1, 2026. Permanent Partial Disability has its own maximum: $446 per week in 2025, rising to $454 per week effective April 1, 2026. Reasonable and necessary medical care is covered in full, with mileage reimbursed at 51 cents per mile.

What happens if my claim is denied?

If the insurer denies liability, it must give you written notice of the specific reason and tell you that you may request a hearing. You challenge the denial by filing a Hearing Application (Form WKC-7). The case then moves through the Worker’s Compensation Division at DWD (which has handled hearings since January 1, 2026), where an administrative law judge may mediate it and, if no settlement is reached, hold a formal hearing. An unfavorable decision can be appealed to the Labor and Industry Review Commission within 21 days.

Where would my De Pere hearing be held?

A disputed De Pere claim is heard at the state’s Green Bay hearing office. Because De Pere is in Brown County, and hearing venues are assigned for the injured worker’s convenience — generally the office nearest your residence — Brown County claims route to Green Bay. Since January 1, 2026, these hearings are run by the Worker’s Compensation Division at the Department of Workforce Development, and an administrative law judge will typically attempt mediation before any formal hearing.

Get a Free Consultation

Se Habla Español — Call 608-305-4518

Whether your claim was just denied or you’re still waiting on the first check, the sooner you understand your rights, the stronger your position. Call 608-305-4518 or contact Mays Law Office online for a free consultation. We represent injured workers across Wisconsin, including De Pere and Brown County, from our office at Mays Law Office, LLC — 6405 Century Ave STE 103, Middleton, WI 53562.