Temporary Disability vs. Permanent Disability in Chicago Workers’ Comp Claims

Work-related injuries fall into two main categories: Temporary and permanent. Depending on your injuries, you can either pursue temporary benefits or permanent benefits through workers’ compensation in Chicago. Once you understand more about these two different types of benefits, it may be easier to pursue your claim with greater confidence.

Temporary Disability Benefits Continue Until You Return to Work or Reach MMI 

As its name suggests, temporary disability benefits do not last forever. They provide financial support for those who need to recover from work-related injuries. Temporary total disability (TTD) is a further subcategory, and it applies to injuries that make work impossible. TTD benefits pay you two-thirds of your average weekly wage (AWW).

The second subcategory is temporary partial disability (TPD). This applies to workers who suffer injuries but return to light or modified duties. For example, a worker recovering from a concussion might return to work once per week before gradually increasing their hours and eventually returning to work full-time.

TPD pays two-thirds of your missed income during this gradual return-to-work plan. For example, if you were to claim TPD for the first week and you only attended work for one full day, you’d receive two-thirds of your pay for the remaining four days.

Permanent Disability Applies to Injuries That Never Get Better 

On the other hand, permanent disability benefits apply to injuries that never fully heal and continue to impact your ability to work for the rest of your life. A further subcategory is permanent partial disability (PPD), which applies to workers who return to work but with permanently modified or reduced duties.

PPD benefits are more flexible, often taking the form of various “awards” that may come in the form of lump-sum payments. Another subcategory is permanent total disability (PTD). These benefits typically pay you two-thirds of your AWW for the rest of your life.

How Do I Know Whether My Injuries Are Permanent or Temporary?

Many patients do not know whether their injuries are permanent or temporary immediately after their accidents. In other cases, the long-term prognosis may be immediately obvious. For example, you might have suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury at work, and you may be paralyzed from the neck down. In this situation, there is a high chance your injuries are permanent.

On the other hand, you might have suffered a repetitive strain injury in a more gradual manner. You might have to wait for months before a doctor finally tells you whether your injury will permanently affect your ability to work. The moment at which you learn this news is called “maximum medical improvement” (MMI).

Can a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Help Me? 

A workers’ compensation lawyer in Chicago may be able to help if you need to pursue either temporary or permanent disability benefits. Sometimes, it’s not immediately clear whether an injury will be permanent or temporary, and you might need to wait until your maximum medical improvement to find out. In the meantime, consider speaking with Connolly Injury Law for further guidance.

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