Workers’ Comp Disability Benefits

In Illinois, temporary total disability benefits are usually paid equal to 66.67% of your average pre-injury wages, or roughly two-thirds of that amount. The wages that you earned in the 52 weeks – or one year – before your workplace accident will be used to calculate that average, making an exception for bonuses and overtime pay. Although, overtime pay can be factored into your average preinjury wages if you regularly worked overtime or were required to do so.

Eligibility for TTD benefits requires that at least one of these requisites are met:

• You cannot work in any capacity for at least two weeks, at which point you can get back pay for the two weeks’ worth of wages you did not earn.
• You could work in a limited capacity, but your employer is not able to accommodate you to allow for that change, effectively preventing you from working.

Your TTD benefits will be paid weekly or biweekly, whichever your regular pay scheduled followed. If you were paid in an abnormal fashion or at a greater interval, such as monthly, then your TTD benefits would likely be paid twice a month.

Were you hurt at work but were not deemed totally disabled by your treating physician? You might be eligible to receive temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits, which are also usually paid at 66.67% of your average pre-injury wages.

TPD benefits could be available to you if you have not reached your maximum medical improvement (MMI) yet but are still able to work in some capacity. Specifically, TPD benefits are usually given to workers who can complete light-duty work at their place of employment while still receiving medical care and other workers’ compensation benefits.

Common examples of light-duty work include:

• Answering phones
• Inputting data or reports
• Nonstrenuous cleaning
• Cataloging inventory

For the most part, light-duty work involves avoiding any sort of physical labor that could exacerbate an injury. Depending on your workplace, though, light-duty work could be considered anything that is “less demanding,” both physically and mentally, compared to what you normally do.

If you have permanently lost partial use of one of your body parts (eyes, ears, limbs, etc.) you may be entitled to receive Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) benefits. Before you can begin receiving benefits for this type of disability, you must have first reached maximum medical improvement, meaning that you have recovered as much as physically possible. After this, you will need to undergo an assessment to determine your level of impairment (this is known as a Permanent Partial Impairment Rating).

The biggest difference between PPD and Permanent Total Disability (PTD) is the extent to which your injuries have limited your abilities. In order to receive PTD benefits you must have suffered from a work injury or illness that has left you entirely and permanently unable to work. In these types of situations, you may be eligible to receive disability benefits each week for the rest of your life.