As you treat and rehabilitate your workplace injury, you may return to work in a limited capacity while receiving partial workers’ compensation benefits. However, working in a light-duty or part-time role may pay less than you earned before your work accident.
South Carolina’s workers’ compensation system offers temporary partial disability benefits to employees recovering from work injuries. These benefits partially reimburse the difference between an injured worker’s pre-accident wage and the lower wage they earn in a modified duty role while recovering from their injury.
For answers to your questions about filing a claim for temporary partial disability benefits, contact Jebaily Law Firm right away. Our South Carolina workers’ compensation lawyers will discuss your options during a free initial consultation.
What Is Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) in SC Workers’ Comp?
As an employee recovers from a work-related injury or illness, their treating physician may clear them to return to work with restrictions, such as limits on the number of hours they can work or restrictions on physical activities. As a result, an employer may offer the worker part-time or light-duty work consistent with their medical restrictions.
However, such work may pay the employee less than they earned before their injury or illness. Under the South Carolina workers’ compensation system, temporary partial disability benefits can partially reimburse the worker’s lost income.
TPD in workers’ comp pays an injured or ill worker up to two-thirds of the difference between their pre-injury or pre-illness average weekly wage and their current wage in a lower-paying light-duty role.
Differences Between Temporary Disability and Permanent Disability
South Carolina’s workers’ compensation system offers temporary and permanent disability benefits to injured workers. Employees may receive South Carolina short-term disability benefits when they cannot work or earn as much as they did before a work injury or occupational illness, with benefits paid during a worker’s recovery period. Temporary benefits continue until workers can return to their pre-injury level of employment or until they complete their medical treatment.
Once a worker reaches maximum medical improvement (MMI) for a workplace injury or occupational illness, they may qualify for permanent disability benefits if they continue to have a physical impairment due to their condition. Once an employee’s physician releases them from treatment, the physician will give the worker an impairment rating. The Workers’ Compensation Commission may use the impairment rating to determine the disability rating, which affects the amount of permanent disability benefits the employee may receive.
Permanent disability awards depend on the nature and severity of a worker’s permanent impairments. The Commission calculates permanent disability benefits by multiplying the percentage of loss of use of a body part or percentage of permanent disability of the whole body against a statutorily determined number of weeks of payments and the worker’s pre-injury average weekly wage.
After a worker receives an impairment rating, their employer or workers’ compensation insurer may discuss a potential settlement with the worker. A workers’ compensation settlement may include a payment based on the permanent disability award the employer or insurer thinks the worker might receive. Employees and employers can enter two types of workers’ comp settlements. The first type of settlement allows a worker to seek additional medical care for an aggravation of their work injury within 12 months of the last payment of workers’ compensation benefits. The second type of settlement resolves the worker’s claim by providing financial compensation that includes money for any anticipated future medical care.
How Can I Calculate My TPD Benefits?
The South Carolina workers’ compensation system calculates a worker’s TPD benefits based on the worker’s average weekly wage. An employer or insurer must calculate the worker’s average weekly wage based on their earnings in the four quarters preceding the injury. An employer or insurer must then calculate the difference between the claimant’s pre-injury average weekly wage and the lower wages they earn while in a light-duty or part-time position as they recover from a work-related injury. Employees can receive two-thirds of this difference for their temporary partial disability benefits.
How Long Can I Get Temporary Partial Disability Benefits in South Carolina?
In South Carolina, claimants may receive TPD benefits until they can return to full duty or their treating physician releases them from medical care after reaching maximum medical improvement. However, claimants who dispute their clearance to return to work or discharge from medical care can petition the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission for a hearing to maintain their TPD benefits.
Common Workplace Injuries Leading to TPD Claims
Some examples of workplace injuries that may require employees to go on light duty and receive temporary partial disability benefits include:
- Ligament sprains and tears
- Muscle or tendon strains and tears
- Broken bones
- Herniated spinal disc injuries
- Severe lacerations or burns
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Repetitive stress injuries
- Respiratory conditions, such as asthma or COPD
The Appeals Process for Denied or Undervalued TPD Claims in South Carolina
Employers may attempt to deny injured employees’ claims for TPD benefits by rejecting their medical limitations and asserting they can perform a full-duty or a modified-duty position that pays as much as the worker earned before their injury. Employers or workers’ compensation insurers could also undervalue a claimant’s TPD benefits.
Workers can appeal an employer’s TPD benefits decision to the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission for a formal hearing before a Workers’ Compensation Commissioner. At a workers’ compensation hearing, the claimant can present evidence and testimony to support their challenge to a denial or undervaluation of the TPD claim.
If the Workers’ Compensation Commissioner rules against the claimant and upholds the employer’s decision, the injured employee can appeal the Commissioner’s decision to an appellate panel of three Commissioners or the full Workers’ Compensation Commission, which will review the record to determine whether the single Commissioner correctly ruled on the case. Claimants can further appeal adverse decisions by an appellate panel or the full Commission to the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
Our South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Are Ready to Help You
After getting hurt or ill at work, you may have the right to workers’ compensation benefits, including temporary partial disability compensation. Contact Jebaily Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation with our South Carolina workers’ compensation attorney to learn more about your legal rights and options.
