An Explanation of Workers' Compensation Benefits for Injured Joplin Missouri Workers
If you are injured on the job in Joplin, Missouri, you probably already know that you will be able to receive workers' compensation benefits to cover your medical treatment. However, many Joplin employees are confused as to the different benefits they are entitled to. In this article, Joplin workers' compensation lawyers explain the differences between temporary total and temporary partial disability benefits, and permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits.
Temporary Total Disability (TTD)
Temporary total disability benefits are compensation for lost wages while you are unable to work due to an injury. To qualify for TTD, a doctor must take you off work due to your injury, such as during time recovering after surgery. TTD may also be owed where you are placed on modified duty, but your employer is unable to accommodate. TTD is paid as 2/3 of your average weekly wage in the 13 weeks prior to your injury up to a statutory maximum benefit. TTD is continued until your doctor releases you to return to work, or when your treatment is finished because you have reached maximum medical improvement.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD)
If your treating physician does not take you completely off work, but rather states that you can perform light or modified duty work, which your employer accommodates, but at less than your full pay or for fewer hours than prior to your injury, you may be eligible for temporary partial disability benefits. The Missouri workers' compensation law provides that TPD benefits be paid as 2/3 of the difference between your average weekly wage prior to the injury and your wage while on modified duty. TPD is continued until you are released to full duty or you reach maximum medical improvement.
Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)
Permanent partial disability benefits compensate you for disability due to your injury that is permanent in nature, but partial in degree, meaning that the disability does not render you totally unemployable. PPD is a medical opinion rendered after you have reached maximum medical improvement. PPD is expressed as a percentage of disability at the body part injured. The disability percentage is multiplied by the value of the body part injured based on a schedule of injuries published by the legislature and your PPD rate to arrive at a lump sum compensation amount. Please note that the PPD percentage provided by the treating doctor is not binding on you or an Administrative Law Judge hearing your case, and the value of your claim may be higher than that percentage.
