Learn how Louisiana determines the amount of compensation you may be entitled to for a work-related accident or sickness, as well as how workers’ compensation eligibility requirements apply to infectious illnesses such as COVID-19.
An on-the-job accident or occupational illness may have a significant impact on your life, affecting not just your health but also your finances, career, and overall well-being. The Louisiana workers’ compensation system is intended to reimburse you for part of your losses and assist you in returning to work as quickly as feasible. This page describes the different kinds and quantities of benefits available via workers’ compensation. (To get these benefits, you must submit a workers’ compensation claim and demonstrate that you suffered a work-related injury or sickness.)
Is COVID-19 Covered by Workers’ Compensation in Louisiana?
Louisiana workers’ compensation covers occupational illnesses in the same way as it covers accidental injuries, but only if they are caused by dangerous circumstances unique to your profession, as opposed to most jobs (La. Rev. Stat. 23:1031.1 (2020)). It’s too early to tell how courts will apply that criteria in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. But, with the exception of some specific occupations such as emergency response, it’s safe to say that most employees in Louisiana would have difficulty proving that their jobs presented a unique, higher risk of virus exposure compared to other types of work, and that they contracted the illness as a result of that exposure.
Louisiana Temporary Total Disability Benefits
If you are physically unable to work while recuperating from a job-related accident or illness, you may be eligible for temporary total disability (TTD) payments in Louisiana. You will not get these benefits for the first week off work unless your impairment lasts at least two weeks.
The weekly TTD benefit amount is two-thirds of your typical weekly pay at the time of your accident, however these benefits have a maximum and a floor. The maximum award is 75% of the statewide average weekly pay at the time of your injury, with a minimum of 20%. The highest TTD payout is $705 per week for accidents occurring between September 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021, while the minimum is $188.
TTD benefits continue until you no longer need regular medical care, and physicians may assess whether or not you have any permanent impairment as a consequence of your work-related accident or illness. (La. Revised Statutes 23:1202, 23:1221(1), and 23:1224 (2020).)
Benefits for Extra Earnings
Although temporary disability benefits are not available in Louisiana if you are able to work at all (including self-employment), you may be eligible for “supplemental earnings benefits” if your injury prevents you from earning at least 90% of your pre-injury income. These benefits are estimated as two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you can earn today in any form of job. For example, if you made $3,000 per month before to your accident but can now only perform light-duty job paying $1,800 per month, you would get two-thirds of the $1,200 difference, or $800 per month.
You may get these payments for up to 520 weeks if you still qualify for supplementary earnings benefits, unless you retire before then. (La. Revised Statutes 23:1221(3) (2020).)
Louisiana Permanent Disability Benefits
Following the completion of your medical treatment, your doctor will assess you to establish if your accident or sickness has resulted in permanent handicap, and if so, to what degree.
Total and Permanent Disability
To be considered permanently and totally disabled in Louisiana, you must demonstrate that you are physically unable to perform any type of gainful work, including self-employment—regardless of whether the work matches your education, training, and other qualifications, and even if you must work in pain. If you fit this strict criterion, you may continue to receive weekly payments at your TTD rate for the duration of your handicap. (La. Revised Statutes 23:1221(2) (2020))
Partially Permanent Disability
If your accident or illness has left you with a permanent handicap that prevents you from working totally, you may be eligible for permanent partial disability (PPD) payments. These benefits are worth two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly earnings, but Louisiana has two distinct ways for estimating how long those payments will last—and therefore how much you’ll get. (You may agree to receive the complete amount of these payments in a lump sum as part of a settlement of your Louisiana workers’ compensation case.)
Permanent Partial Disability Scheduled
If you’ve had an amputation or what Louisiana refers to as a “anatomical loss of use” of particular bodily parts—the extremities or an eye—your PPD benefits will endure for a certain number of weeks, according to a timetable established by Louisiana law. For example, the entire loss of a hand is shown as 150 weeks on the calendar. If you just lost 10% of your hand, you would get paid for 15 weeks. (La. Revised Statutes 23:1221(4)(a)-(o) (2020).)
Permanent Partial Disability that was not planned
If you suffer any of the following permanent disabilities as a consequence of your accident or illness, you may be eligible for PPD payments for up to 100 weeks:
Major damage to the functioning of your respiratory, gastrointestinal, or genito-urinary systems, serious deformity, or hearing loss, but only if induced by a single traumatic event.
(La. Revised Statutes 23:1221(4)(p) (2020).)
Benefits of Catastrophic Injury
In addition to other benefits, Louisiana provides a one-time $50,000 payout for certain kinds of catastrophic injuries sustained on the job, such as third-degree burns over at least 40% of the body, quadriplegia, paraplegia, or complete loss of two limbs or both eyes. (La. Revised Statutes 23:1221(s) (2020).)
Additional Advantages
Additional benefits provided under Louisiana workers’ compensation include:
Medical advantages. Your employer (or its insurance provider) must cover all medical expenses incurred as a result of your workplace accident, with no copays or deductibles. You may also be paid for the miles used in obtaining certain medical treatments.
Mileage reimbursement is available. Workers’ compensation also covers mileage to and from doctor’s visits.
Rehabilitation for the workforce. You are eligible to vocational rehabilitation services if you are unable to earn what you were before your accident. A competent vocational counselor will be assigned to you to examine and assist you with job placement or retraining Death Benefits. When an employee dies as a result of a work-related injury within two years after the final treatment, Louisiana provides death benefits to the dead worker’s remaining legal dependents. These benefits are often provided in weekly installments equal to a proportion of the deceased employee’s pre-injury income. If the employee has no legal dependents, the surviving biological and adopted children will get a $75,000 lump-sum payout.
Funeral costs. Louisiana will additionally pay up to $8,500 in reasonable funeral costs for the dead employee.
(La. Revised Statutes 23:1203, 23:1210, 23:1226, 23:1231-1236) (2020).
When You Need Assistance Collecting Workers’ Compensation Benefits
You may be able to handle your workers’ compensation claim on your own if you experience a minor on-the-job accident and have no problem receiving benefits from the insurance company. However, in most circumstances, particularly if your claim has been refused, you should consult with a workers’ compensation lawyer who can review your claim and preserve your right to all of the benefits you deserve. Workers’ compensation attorneys in Louisiana are only compensated a portion of the benefits they get for their clients. (Find out when you need a workers’ compensation attorney and what a competent workers’ compensation lawyer can do for you.)