Rates and Durations for Permanent Partial Disability

If you are injured on the job in a way that affects your ability to work earning as much as you were before, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation disability benefits. If you are considered an employee for the purposes of workers’ comp, it can be helpful to know the amount of compensation to which you are entitled. It is important to speak with a skilled workers’ comp attorney to help ensure that you collect workers’ comp in a manner that will allow you to receive the maximum amount of benefits you deserve.

Temporary payments will continue throughout the person’s healing period, until their doctors deems they have reached what is called Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), or the point at which their healing has plateaued and will not likely continue. Medical payments can still continue at this point for ongoing medical maintenance of the permanent injury or condition, but the way that disability payments for lost wages are calculated will change.

• Permanent partial disability: If a person still suffers impairment to one of the body parts listed in the schedule below at the end of their healing period, they may be eligible for a set period of disability benefits regardless of how their earning capacity is currently affected. Your doctor will assign a disability rating to each affected body part on a scale of zero (0) percent to 100 percent. For example, if a construction accident maims your leg, your doctor might assign a disability rating of 60 percent to the leg once they deem you have reached Maximum Medical Improvement. This would mean you only have 40 percent functionality in that leg. This rating will affect this amount and duration of disability benefits you can receive for injuries with a less than 100 percent disability rating.
  • Scheduled injuries: Most of the schedule below is phrased in terms of total loss of a body part. An employee with such an injury is entitled to two-thirds of their average weekly wages at the time of the accident for the number of weeks listed in the schedule below.
    • However, more often than not, the permanent impairment will involve partial, not total, loss of functionality. If the impairment to the body part is less than 100 percent, the employee is entitled to receive an amount in proportion to their disability rating of two-thirds of their former average weekly pay. For example, if an employee suffers a leg injury with a 60 percent disability rating, he or she would be eligible for 60 percent of two-thirds of their average weekly wages, to continue for 60 percent of the time period set in the schedule below for full permanent incapacitation of a leg (200 weeks).

It should be noted that workers’ comp collected for loss of use of a body part under this schedule is in lieu of other workers’ comp disability payments, including permanent total disability under N.C.G.S. 97-29. Again, only a few limited types of impairment qualify for lifetime total disability payments under workers’ comp: loss of both hands, feet, legs, eyes, or any two thereof; spinal injury that involves severe paralysis of both legs, arms, or trunk; severe brain injury with permanent effects on cognitive function; and second or third-degree burns on over a third of the body.

Accepting a workers’ comp payment based on your disability rating starts the clock, so to speak, on a two-year deadline for filing a change of condition under N.C.G.S. 97-47. If you accept a ratings-based permanent partial disability payment but your condition worsens and/or has additional complications after that fact, you can be barred from future wage replacement benefits if you do not timely file for this change of condition. If you are considering accepting a disability payment based on a permanent partial disability rating, it can be important to speak with an experienced attorney first to weigh your options to ensure you are not precluded from the maximum amount of benefits you deserve.

If you or a loved one was injured on the job, it is important to speak with a skilled local workers’ compensation attorney. The workers’ comp attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC stand at the ready to step in and manage dealing with the North Carolina Industrial Commission (the organization that handles workers’ comp claims here), the employer and the insurance companies so that you can focus on your recovery. Contact our office today to schedule a consultation with one of our workers’ compensation attorneys, now with offices in Charlotte, Mooresville and Monroe.