Maryland runs two separate lists for public safety employees, and neither one contains the other. Being on one is not the same as being on both, and most claims get built as if only one exists.
Maryland received 21,661 workers’ compensation claims in FY2023. Police filed 1,827 and fire filed 735 — 2,562 between them, about one in nine. Source: Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission, FY2023 Annual Report; the combined figure is our arithmetic
One list decides who gets a statutory presumption of compensability. The other decides who is paid at the higher permanent partial disability rate. We run both on every file. There is no cost to talk to us.
At Pinder Plotkin, the initial consultation is free, whether by phone or in person. You have the right to an attorney, and we work on a contingency basis — you do not pay attorney fees up front while dealing with medical bills and lost wages, and our fee comes only after you win.
Maryland runs two separate statutes for public safety employees. They overlap, neither contains the other, and being on one list tells you nothing about the other.
§ 9-503 gives a statutory presumption of compensability. It covers the fire service broadly (heart, hypertension, lung, and fourteen enumerated cancers after ten years), police officers and certain deputy sheriffs narrowly (heart and hypertension only), and rangers for Lyme disease.
It also reaches people the benefit-rate list does not: rescue squad members, advanced life support unit members, sworn State Fire Marshal members, and the forest, park and wildlife ranger classes.L&E § 9-503
§ 9-628(a) defines “public safety employee” for benefit purposes. A Tier 1 permanent partial disability award is paid at the higher Tier 2 rate. That matters more than it sounds: about three quarters of Maryland permanency awards fall in the 0–74 week band (6,479 of 8,611 in FY2024), which is exactly where the bump applies.
That list adds people with no § 9-503 presumption at all — paramedics, WMATA police, and correctional officers employed by the State, Baltimore County and Harford County.L&E § 9-628(a), (h)
One carve-out to watch. A Baltimore County deputy sheriff is a public safety employee only for injuries arising from courthouse security, prisoner transportation, service of warrants, personnel management or other administrative duties. Establish what duty was being performed at the time of injury before assuming the bump applies.
A claim built on one list misses what the other offers. The presumption changes who has to prove what. The rate changes what the award is worth. They are independent, and a public safety file needs both checked at intake — not at the hearing.
As of October 1, 2026, Chapter 300 (HB 347) adds a hypertension track for paid firefighters, fire fighting instructors, rescue squad members, ALS unit members and State Fire Marshal members: presumed compensable and presumed disabled on four conditions — diagnosis by an authorized provider, 90 or more consecutive days of prescribed medication, two years of cumulative service, and current employment in a qualifying position. It does not reach volunteers, and it does not reach the § 9-503(b) police and correctional officer classes.
The burden never comes back to you. Maryland’s highest court applied that rule in City of Frederick v. Shankle, 367 Md. 5, 785 A.2d 749 (2001), which rests on Montgomery County Fire Board v. Fisher, 298 Md. 245, 468 A.2d 625 (1983): this is a presumption of fact that stays in the case as affirmative evidence throughout, and that both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion remain fixed on the employer — neither ever shifts to the claimant. An employer’s expert may not simply deny or contradict the presumption because the expert disagrees with the premise behind it. Rebuttal has to be claimant-specific evidence about you, not a general attack on the legislature’s reasoning.
Firefighters & EMTs get a presumption for heart, hypertension, lung disease, and certain cancers. Police officers get a heart disease and hypertension presumption, plus on-duty injury coverage. Correctional officers are covered for assault and cumulative injuries, with a presumption in some counties.
Under §9-503, deputy sheriffs in Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Prince George's counties get the same heart-disease and hypertension presumption. Paid police employed by a county, a municipality, the State, an airport authority, or the Maryland-National Capital Park Police are covered as well.
Report it in writing or verbally within ten days of the injury. If you develop an occupational disease, you must report it to your employer within one year of discovering the illness.
Get to a doctor as soon as you can and follow your healthcare provider's instructions. Tell them about your injury in detail so you get the proper treatment — and so the record ties your condition to the job.
Your healthcare provider will record your injury, but it helps to document it yourself too — how it happened, your symptoms, and the treatment you're getting.
Photograph the injury if it's visible. Photos can serve as evidence of the extent of your injuries even after they heal, and can help show the cause of the injury.
File your claim with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission with the help of a workers' compensation attorney, who can handle the paperwork and legal steps needed within the filing deadline.
Heart, hypertension, lung disease, and certain cancers presumed job-related.
Heart disease and hypertension presumption, plus on-duty injuries.
Assault and cumulative injuries; presumption in some counties.
Deputy sheriffs in Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Prince George's counties get the same heart-disease and hypertension presumption. Paid police employed by a county, municipality, the State, an airport authority, or the Maryland-National Capital Park Police are covered too.
Our workers' compensation attorney, Marc Hassan, and our team handle Maryland work-injury and presumption claims from the first report to the Commission hearing. We know how insurers try to rebut the §9-503 presumption — and how to push back.
Joshua Fannon is an attorney with the Pinder Plotkin Legal Team and a 25-year first responder — Battalion Chief with the Baltimore City Fire Department and elected President of IAFF Local 964. On public-safety claims he brings an insider's grasp of occupational injury and the presumption statutes.
We represent public safety employees across Baltimore City and Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Harford, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. The consultation is free.
Unlike a typical injury claim, Maryland workers' comp benefits are set by statute — not negotiated case-by-case with an insurance adjuster. You may be entitled to:
As with other workers' comp claims, you generally receive two-thirds of your average weekly wage as compensation while you're out of work.
Temporary total disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you’re unable to work, capped at the state average weekly wage (§ 9-621). Under the 14-day/3-day waiting rule (§ 9-620), if you’re out fewer than 14 days, the first 3 days aren’t paid unless your disability continues 14 days or more.
Maryland pays permanent-disability awards in tiers. For a smaller permanent partial disability (under 75 weeks), a civilian is paid at the Tier 1 rate — one-third of their average weekly wage. Under Md. Labor & Employment §9-628, a qualifying public-safety employee with the same award is paid at the Tier 2 rate — two-thirds of their average weekly wage. For the same injury, that is roughly double.
Your workers’ comp claim is against your employer’s insurer and doesn’t depend on fault — but it also doesn’t pay for pain and suffering. If someone other than your employer helped cause your injury, you may also have a separate third-party claim that can recover more. We look at both so you don’t leave money on the table.
Maryland workers’ comp generally covers employees, not true independent contractors. But workers are often misclassified — if your employer controlled how and when you did your work, you may be covered even if you were labeled a contractor. It’s worth letting us take a look before you assume you have no claim.
Whatever your role, if you were hurt on the job across Maryland, Maryland's workers' compensation system is built to get you medical care and wage-replacement benefits. Some public-safety roles carry additional statutory protections — see our pages for firefighters & EMTs, police officers, correctional officers, and public safety employees below.
Workplace injuries are more common than most people realize, and Maryland’s no-fault system gives injured workers real protections — including some added protections for public-safety roles.
Many public safety roles qualify for an occupational-disease presumption under Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 9-503 — but the list of covered roles under § 9-503 is not identical to the broader 'public safety employee' definition in § 9-628, so it's worth confirming yours.
Get a fast, free estimate of what your case could be worth.
Estimate what your Maryland workers’ comp claim could be worth.
Estimate Your Settlement ValueWorkers' compensation is insurance employers carry to cover injuries an employee suffers on the job. Under Maryland law, an injured worker is paid for medical expenses and lost wages related to the injury, and because it is a no-fault system you generally do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong.
Not every workplace incident qualifies. In Maryland, your injury is covered only if it arises out of and occurs in the course of your employment, meaning it happened while you were doing your job and resulted from the conditions of that work.
Report the injury to your employer, in writing or verbally, within ten days of getting hurt (occupational illnesses have their own timeline), get medical treatment, and speak with a workers' comp lawyer before dealing with the insurer.
Start by reporting the work-related injury or illness to your supervisor or employer right away. From there you file a claim with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission, and a lawyer can make sure it is done correctly and on time.
A denial means the insurer does not think your injury is compensable, but you can challenge it. An experienced Maryland workers' comp lawyer can request a hearing before the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission and fight for your benefits.
You have the right to an attorney, and Pinder Plotkin works on a contingency basis, so you do not pay attorney fees up front while dealing with medical bills and lost wages, and our fee comes only after you win.
Paramedics appear on the § 9-628(a) public safety employee list, which means a Tier 1 permanency award is paid at the higher Tier 2 rate. They are not separately named in § 9-503, although advanced life support unit members are. How your employer actually classifies you matters more than the title on the badge, so bring the position description to the first meeting.
Chapter 300 of the 2026 laws (HB 347) adds a hypertension track to § 9-503(a) with effect from 1 October 2026. A paid firefighter, fire fighting instructor, rescue squad member, advanced life support unit member or sworn State Fire Marshal member is presumed to have a compensable occupational disease and is presumed disabled where there is a diagnosis by an authorized provider, 90 or more consecutive days of prescribed hypertension medication, at least two years of cumulative service, and current employment in a qualifying position. It removes the need to show lost work time. It does not reach volunteers, and it does not reach police officers, deputy sheriffs or correctional officers under § 9-503(b). Chapter 300 also bars disability retirement benefits for the same condition, subject to collective bargaining exceptions.
Three Maryland offices — Baltimore (Nottingham), Laurel and Bel Air — and we travel statewide to meet clients who cannot travel to us. Call (888) 844-5373 to schedule a visit.
Three places tell you. The hearing notice the Commission sends names the site, the room and the time. The same details sit next to your claim in CompHub, the Commission’s online claim system. And the Commission posts its daily dockets online, so you can look the site up the day before. If we represent you, we confirm the location with the Commission before every hearing and tell you exactly where to go and when to be there.
A Maryland workers’ compensation case starts when you file an Employee Claim Form with the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission. You can file it online through CompHub — there is an option for people who would rather not set up an account — or file by mail or in person at the Commission’s office, 10 East Baltimore Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. The Commission’s number is (410) 864-5100, or 1-800-492-0479 toll free from outside the Baltimore area. Reporting the injury to your employer is a separate step — telling your boss does not file your claim.
The Commission hears cases in Baltimore City and at six regional sites.
Sites and hearing rooms change. Always go by the location on your hearing notice, and call the Commission or your attorney if anything about it is unclear.
We handle workers' compensation cases throughout Maryland.
We take cases anywhere in Maryland. The figure on each card is the number of workers' compensation claims the Commission received from that jurisdiction in fiscal year 2023 — the last year the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission published a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdown. Claim volume tracks how many people work in a jurisdiction, not how dangerous it is. Each name links to its official local government website.
The Commission no longer publishes claims broken down by jurisdiction, which is why the figures above are dated FY2023.
Source: MDOT Zero Deaths Maryland jurisdiction crash data summaries, 2023. Statewide totals: 577 fatal crashes and 621 traffic deaths.
Jason Plotkin was born and raised here, and he has lived in six Maryland jurisdictions — Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Howard County, Allegany County and Worcester County. Mountains to shore. That is not a marketing line; it is where he has actually lived.
Marc Hassan, Tony Balasamo and Joshua Fannon were born and raised in Maryland too, and Christian Miele served in the Maryland House of Delegates. When you work with our firm, you are working with people who know this state — its roads, its courts and its neighbors.
You protected your community. Let us protect your claim. Call the Pinder Plotkin Legal Team at (888) 844-5373 for a free, no-pressure consultation — and don't sign anything from the insurer until we've talked.
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