There are four types of workers' compensation benefits:
- Income benefits (other than impairment income benefits) replace a portion of any wages you lose because of a work-related injury or illness.
- Medical benefits pay for necessary medical care to treat your work-related injury or illness.
- Burial benefits pay for some of the deceased employee's funeral expenses to the person who paid the funeral expenses.
- Death benefits replace a portion of lost family income for eligible family members of employees killed on the job.
Payment of income or death benefits can be made to you or your beneficiary by:
(1) check, or
(2) electronic fund transfer (EFT)
To be eligible for electronic funds transfer, you must be expected to receive benefits for at least eight (8) weeks. To receive payment by electronic funds transfer you or your beneficiary must make the request in writing to the insurance carrier and provide:
- the name of the financial institution;
- the type of account (checking or savings);
- the routing/transit number; and
- the account number you want benefits electronically transferred to.
Definitions
The following terms are defined:
Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is the average amount of weekly wages you earned during the 13 weeks immediately before your work-related injury or illness occurred. Income and death benefit payments are based on your average weekly wage.
Claim Employer is an employer with whom the injured employee filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits and for whom the injured employee was working at the time of the on-the-job injury.
Disability occurs when a work-related injury or illness causes you to lose the ability to earn your weekly wages. Disability refers to your ability to earn an income, not to a physical handicap.
Impairment Rating is the percentage of permanent physical damage to your body that resulted from a work-related injury or illness.
Maximum Benefit Amount may not exceed 100 percent of the state average weekly wage, rounded to the nearest whole dollar. The Division will compute the maximum weekly income benefit for each state fiscal year no later than September 1st of each year.
Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) is the earlier of:
- the point in time when your work-related injury or illness has improved as much as it is going to improve or
- 104 weeks from the date you became eligible to receive temporary income benefits.
Minimum Benefit Amount is 15 percent of the state average weekly wages, rounded to the nearest whole dollar. The Division will compute the minimum weekly income benefit for each state fiscal year no later than September 1st of each year.
Multiple Employment means an employee who has more than one employer.
Non-Claim Employer is an employer, other than the claim employer, by whom the employee was employed at the time of the on-the-job injury.
Non-pecuniary Wages are wages in a form other than money (i.e., health insurance premiums, vehicle, clothing, or rent/housing).
Pecuniary Wages are wages in the form of money (i.e., salary; commissions; and bonuses).
