If this sounds familiar and you’ve suffered an on-the-job injury that’s keeping you from working, you may be entitled to compensation.
Let’s look at the categories of workers’ compensation more closely in order to understand which you might be eligible for based on your specific situation. In addition to the circumstances surrounding your injuries, note that the amount of compensation you’ll receive will depend on how much you were earning prior to being injured.
Categories of Workers’ Comp Injuries
If you’ve been injured at work, your injury likely falls into one of four different workers’ comp categories, which can make you eligible for disability benefits.
Temporary Total Disability (TTD)
Let’s say you become injured at work, and that injury causes you to become disabled for a period of time. Your doctor anticipates you’ll fully recover, however. You can claim temporary total disability or TTD—the most common type of disability.
Although you’ll heal and return to work some day, for now (or temporarily) your disability prevents you from working at all for now.
Here’s how this injury is both “temporary” and “total”:
- You’re injured severely enough that you cannot work, but you will heal and return to work eventually;
- Your doctor hasn’t released you to return to work yet, but eventually will; or
- Your doctor has released you to perform only light duty but no light-duty work is available at your place of employment
An example of this scenario would be if you break your leg at work, require surgery and are unable to lift heavy objects. Your prognosis is a full recovery, but your injury prevents you from performing your job right now. Your leg is totally injured but only temporarily. This situation is example of when you could be eligible for TTD.
In the case of a TTD workers’ comp benefit, you’ll most likely be compensated on a weekly basis until you’re fully recovered and your doctor releases you back to work.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD)
If you are on the job, you break your leg, but you’re able to return to work and perform light-duty tasks (and your job has light-duty tasks available for you to perform), a temporary partial disability (TPD) compensation may be the appropriate workers’ comp benefit for you. TPD is available when you’re injured but are able to return to work in some capacity while you continue to heal.
If you receive a TPD workers’ comp benefit, you’ll likely be compensated on a weekly basis, but that compensation will end once you have fully recovered.
Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)
Permanent partial disability, or PPD, is when you are not completely disabled by your injury, but the partial disability is likely to be permanent and you are not expected to fully recover.
With PPD, you may receive lump sum payments depending on your injury.
Permanent Temporary Disability (PTD)
Permanent temporary disability or PTD, is compensation for employees who have been injured so badly that they’ll never be able to work again.
An employee who suffers an injury that results in the loss of function in both arms, both legs or both eyes is a case in which PTD workers’ comp benefits would apply.
PTD is sometimes offered as weekly payments, but more than likely, you’ll receive a lump sum settlement payment.
SC Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Myrtle Beach, Conway, Charleston, and Columbia
Disability can be a tough pill to swallow, and it is your employer’s obligation to compensate you for any disabilities that you suffer as a result of working for them.
Your SC workers’ comp attorney can help make sure that you are fully compensated based on the type of injuries that you suffered. To discuss your case with an experienced workers’ comp attorney in Myrtle Beach, call us at (843) 488-5000, or you can reach us through our online form.
