Learn how Maryland determines the amount of compensation you may be entitled to for a job-related accident or sickness, as well as how workers’ compensation eligibility requirements may apply if you contract COVID-19 at work.
If you were injured or became ill while working in Maryland, you may be eligible for payments under the state workers’ compensation system. The benefits you get will be determined by the type of your injuries, your ability to return to work, your pre-injury wages, and other variables specific to your situation. This page describes how the most significant workers’ compensation payouts in Maryland are calculated. (To get these benefits, you must submit a workers’ compensation claim within the state’s time constraints and demonstrate that your injury or sickness is work-related.)
Given the coronavirus pandemic and how COVID-19 is distributed, most Maryland employees are unlikely to qualify for workers’ compensation for the sickness, even if they feel they caught the virus at work. Workers’ compensation may cover an occupational condition, according to Maryland courts, provided you can establish that the danger of the illness is inherent in the nature of your job—to a larger degree than it is in general employment—and that your job obligations actually exposed you to that risk. Baltimore County v. Quinlan, 215 A.3d 282 (Md. Ct. App. 2019). (Md. Code, Lab. & Emp. 9-502 (2020).)
Employees in a few industries who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients, such as first responders and certain healthcare practitioners, would more likely find it simpler to achieve those standards than the majority of employees. However, it is unclear how Maryland workers’ compensation courts would apply the statute to other occupations that may provide a significant risk of infection. In response to the epidemic, numerous states have implemented legislation that makes it easier for certain frontline workers to get workers’ compensation payments for COVID-19 by assuming that the illness is work-related until the employer shows otherwise. Maryland is not one of these states.
If you are unable to return to your normal employment while healing from an on-the-job accident or illness, temporary disability benefits will reimburse a part of your missed income. These advantages will be available for as long as you are temporarily handicapped.
If you are unable to work while recovering, you may be eligible for temporary total disability (TTD) payments. Unless you’ve been out of work for more than 14 days, there’s a three-day waiting period before these benefits kick in. TTD benefits are determined by taking two-thirds of your typical weekly salary at the time of your injury and multiplying it by the statewide average wage. The maximum for 2020 is $1,080. There is also a $50 weekly TTD benefit requirement unless you were earning less at the time of your accident. (Md. Code, Laboratory & Emp. 9-620 (2020).)
If you are able to return to work but are unable to earn your usual income owing to temporary limits imposed by your accident or sickness, you will be eligible for temporary partial disability payments equivalent to 50% of the difference between your pre-injury wages and your current earning capability. For example, suppose your weekly earnings were $1,000 before your accident, but you can now only make $600 because your doctor has confined you to light-duty or part-time employment. Your weekly temporary partial disability compensation would be $200 ($1,000 – $600 = $400 x.5).
The legal ceiling for TPD benefits is 50% of the statewide average weekly earnings ($540 in 2020). (Md. Code, Laboratory, and Employment 9-615 (2020).)
When your treating doctor determines that you’ve achieved maximal medical improvement (meaning that your condition isn’t likely to improve even with more treatment), you’ll be examined to discover whether your accident or sickness has left you with long-term impairments—and, if so, how severe they are.
If you have persistent impairments that prohibit you from working totally, your doctor will assign you a permanent partial disability (PPD) rating, which is represented as a percentage. The length of PPD benefits will be determined by the injured bodily part or portions, as well as the severity of the impairment. Here’s a high-level overview of how this aspect of the PPD calculation works:
If you have received an award for less than 75 weeks, the length of your award may be extended for up to 75 weeks if your disability interferes with your ability to fulfill work obligations (this is known as “industrial loss”).
The weekly amount of PPD compensation is limited to $50. (unless you earned less than that before your injury). Otherwise, the amount is determined by the number of weeks remaining on your award. There are exceptions for specific injuries and public safety professionals, but the weekly sum is calculated as follows:
If you have obtained several awards for the same injury (for example, if your accident resulted in permanent damage to both your neck and an arm), your weekly benefit amount will be computed based on the total number of weeks for the combined awards.
For example, if you incurred 30% loss of use of an arm and 15% whole body disability due to a neck injury, you would be eligible for a total award of 165 weeks. If your pre-injury weekly earnings were $600, you would get benefits at the highest amount for a 2020 injury ($360 per week), since two-thirds of $600 exceeds the limit. As a result, your total PPD benefits would be $360 multiplied by 165, or $59,400.
Although PPD payments are often provided in addition to TTD benefits, Maryland law allows a workers’ compensation court to impose an offset or credit against your PPD award for TTD or vocational rehabilitation benefits obtained. 9-610.1, 9-626, 9-627, 9-628, 9-629, 9-630, and 9-631 (2020).)
If your occupational accident or illness has rendered you permanently and completely incapacitated, you will be eligible to TTD payments, subject to the same maximum (and a $25 weekly minimum). These payments, however, will be modified annually to reflect increases in the cost of living.
When you’ve entirely lost use of both hands, arms, feet, legs, or eyes, or any two of those bodily parts, Maryland law presumes you’re utterly and permanently incapacitated. Other persistent limitations may also qualify, but only if they prohibit you from working at all. Permanent complete disability payments will be paid for as long as you are fully disabled—possibly for the rest of your life. (Md. Code, Laboratory & Emp. 9-636, 9-637, 9-638 (2020).)
When a worker dies as a consequence of a work-related accident or disease, surviving family members who were financially reliant on the dead worker may be eligible for death benefits. If the dead worker supplied 100% of the family’s income, the dependents will get weekly benefits at the full TTD rate, up to the same maximum as the deceased worker. If the dead employee only contributed a portion of the family’s income, the sum will be lowered correspondingly. Assume the dead employee was earning $600 per week at the time of the accident and contributed 50% of the combined household income. The death benefit would be half of $400 ($600), or $200 each week. Annually, death benefits are increased to reflect increases in the cost of living.
In general, death benefits in Maryland are payable for a period of 12 years. Among the exceptions to this time restriction are when the surviving spouse remarries or the children reach the age of 18 (or 23 if they are still full-time students). (Md. Code, Labor and Employment 9-683.3 (2020).)
Maryland has unique standards for death benefits provided to some county and municipal workers’ surviving dependents.
In addition to payments to offset a portion of lost income, Maryland workers’ compensation provides the following benefits:
If your employer’s insurance company has rejected your workers’ compensation claim, isn’t paying benefits you’re entitled to, or refuses to allow necessary medical care, you should consult with a Maryland workers’ compensation attorney. A local attorney with knowledge in this field can review your case, explain whether it makes sense to launch an appeal, ensure that any settlement arrangement is fair, and assist you in obtaining all of the benefits you are entitled to.