Risk Management

Workers' Compensation (CARO)

Benefit Information: Permanent Disability

What are permanent total disability (PTD) or permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits?

Once a doctor has done all they feel can be done medically to help an employee, and the employee is not as physically able as they were before the injury, then there is a disability. And if there isn't anything else the doctor can do to make the employee any better, the disability will be "permanent", meaning the employee will suffer the effect of the injury from that point on. That disability will either be "total" meaning the employee is unable to perform any work or "partial" which means the employee is able to work but there are limitations or restrictions as to what they are able to do. If the employee is determined to be permanently and totally disabled, benefits will continue for the rest of their life. If the disability is a permanent partial disability (PPD), the legislature has established a formula to convert that disability into a dollar amount. The maximum weekly wage amount for a permanent partial disability is less than the maximum for the temporary total disability because the disability is partial instead of total. Compensation is for the disability only. The law does not provide compensation for pain and suffering.

When are PPD benefits paid?

After a physician has finished medical treatment and released an employee to return to work, they may be able to evaluate the employees level of permanent partial disability. Once a disability rating is received from the physician, CARO will request the claim to be set for a conference at the Division of Workers' Compensation. A conference is a setting whereby the injured employee, the CARO representative and the Administrative Law Judge from the Division of Workers' Compensation work to bring the claim to conclusion. CARO initiates payment for PPD upon receipt of a settlement agreement signed by the Administrative Law Judge.