No employer wants to see an employee hurt on the job, but even when the employer has taken meticulous steps to reduce the chances of employee injury, it is almost a certainty that an injury will eventually occur. When the employee sustains a work-related injury, he or she will be entitled to receive a variety of benefits. The most pressing and obvious type of benefits will be medical expenses for treatment of the injury. Temporary and permanent disability benefits may also be awarded, so as an employer, you need to understand the difference between the two.
Temporary disability benefits are designed to help replace at least a portion of the injured employee’s wages while he or she is unable to work. The type and length of the temporary disability benefits received will be determined by the types of work restrictions set by the employee’s medical provider. An employee will no longer receive temporary disability benefits once he or she returns to work or is told by the medical provider he or she is sufficiently recovered to return to work. California law provides that temporary disability can only be paid for a maximum of 104 weeks within the five years following the injury. There are, however, some conditions that will allow for payment of temporary disability benefits for longer, such as chronic lung disease, chemical burns to the eyes, or amputations.
Permanent disability benefits are benefits that are paid in recognition of your future loss of earning capacity as a result of the injury. Like temporary disability benefits, the benefit will be paid based on a medical evaluation. The medical provider must determine when an injury has reached maximum improvement (i.e., has “stabilized”) and at that time will determine an employee’s permanent disability rating. The medical provider will determine the percentage of your disability and the amount paid will be directly determined by that percentage; the higher the percentage, the total money will be paid to the employee. For any amount under one hundred percent, an employee is partially disabled. An employee who is permanently totally disabled will be entitled to receive weekly payments in the amount equal to the temporary disability rate for the rest of the employee’s life.
If you have questions about whether what the different types of disability payments mean for your business, call us today. We can talk to you about your rights and responsibilities.