1911 Massachusetts Passes Landmark Workers' Compensation Legislation

Achieving employee compensation for job-related injuries was one of the great victories of the Massachusetts Labor Movement. For years labor leaders across the country attempted to pass legislation regulating workers’ compensation. The federal government expressed sympathy towards workers’ compensation laws, but unfortunately decided that this was a matter to leave at the state level. There was an effort in several states to pass worker’s compensation bills, including one in Massachusetts in 1908. State governments tended to be less supportive of this kind of legislation, and as a result all early attempts to pass workers’ compensation bills were either highly ineffective or complete failures.

This setback only served to motivate the Massachusetts Labor Movement, and as a result of their persistent efforts, Massachusetts became one of the first states to pass a substantial workers’ compensation bill. In 1911, the Massachusetts Legislature passed “An Act relative to payments to employees for personal injuries received in the course of their employment and to the prevention of such injuries.” This groundbreaking legislation created statewide standards for workplace safety, thereby preventing many work-related injuries. The Act also mandated that if an employee is injured at work, they would receive monetary compensation from their employer. This historic piece of legislation paved the way for advances in the area of workers’ compensation in Massachusetts and other states across the country. Nine other states passed workers' compensation legislation in 1911, and another thirty six states passed similar bills by the end of the decade.

To read the 1911 Workers' Compensation Legislation, click here.