TEMPORARY DISABILITY OVERVIEW
If your injury prevents you from doing your usual job while recovering, you may be eligible for temporary disability (TD) benefits. TD benefits are payments you receive if you lose wages because your treating doctor says you are unable to do your usual job for more than three days, or you are hospitalized overnight; and your employer does not offer you other work that pays your usual wages while you recover.
TEMPORARY DISABILITY FAQ
Temporary total disability (TTD) payments are usually two-thirds of the wages you were earning before you were injured. Example: If the gross wages that you would be earning if you were not injured are $300 per week, your TTD payments are $200 per week.
You can’t receive more than a maximum weekly amount set by law. Therefore, if you earned more than a certain amount of wages before you were injured, you could receive less than two-thirds of those wages.
You may receive temporary partial disability benefits if your doctor says that you’re able to go back to work on a limited basis. For instance, your doctor may recommend a schedule of only four hours a day or three days a week. In that case, you’ll usually receive two-thirds of your lost income—the difference between what you were earning before the injury and what you’re earning now.
If your injury is covered by workers’ compensation, your first TD payment is due within 14 days after your employer learns that you have a job injury or illness, and your treating doctor says your injury prevents you from doing your job. You should receive this payment from the claims administrator.
After the first payment, TD benefits must be paid every two weeks by the claims administrator, for as long as you are eligible.
TD payments end when your treating doctor says you can return to your usual job; or you return to your usual job or to modified or alternate work at your regular wages; or you have reached a point where your condition is not improving and not getting worse; or you were injured on or after January 1, 2008, and received up to 104 weeks of TD benefits within five years from the date of injury.
You don’t pay federal, state, or local income taxes on TD benefits. Also, you don’t pay Social Security taxes, union dues, or retirement fund contributions on these benefits.