Temporary Total Disability (TTD) and Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) checks
In a workers compensation case, there are primarily two types of checks that an injured worker may be entitled to. The first type is called Temporary Total Disability (TTD) checks and the other is called Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) checks. These checks are temporary because the Employer/Carrier is only obligated to pay them for a maximum of two years.
An injured worker is entitled to receive checks through the workers compensation system if an authorized physician places them on work restrictions. In order to receive TTD checks, an authorized physician must place the worker on “no work” status which means that the worker is unable to work due to the injuries sustained from the work accident. In this scenario, the worker would receive checks at a rate of 66.67% of the average what he or she was earning 13 weeks prior to the accident. If the worker did not work for the employer for 13 weeks, then the rate a similar employee was earning would be used to calculate the rate of pay.
In the other scenario, an injured worker may be entitled to TPD checks if an authorized physician places the worker on light duty work restrictions (example: the worker cannot lift more than 10 pounds). If the worker is still employed by the employer, then the employer must be informed of the employee’s work restrictions to determine if it can accommodate those restrictions. If the employer does have work within the employee’s restrictions, then the employee would not be entitled to TPD checks as he or she would have to return to work in order to get
However, if the employer cannot accommodate the light duty restrictions, the employee would be entitled to TPD checks. The TPD checks are calculated in a similar way as the TTD checks, however the rate is 64% of the injured worker’s average earnings 13 weeks prior to the accident. Another scenario where an injured employee is entitled to TPD checks is when the employee returns to work for the employer on light duty but is not earning at least 80% of his or her preinjury wages. In that situation, the Employer/Carrier would have to pay the difference in earnings at the TPD rate.
As you can see, the workers compensation law is very complicated in regards to the checks that an injured worker may be entitled to. That is why it is important to hire a Workers’ Compensation attorney who handles these types of situations. If you think that you are owed checks through workers compensation or believe that the checks you are receiving are not being paid at the correct rate, give us a call at (877) 8174127.
