Learn when you may obtain workers’ compensation payments for a working accident or occupational sickness, how Ohio calculates those benefits, and how long the checks are valid.
If you’ve been injured or become sick at work in Ohio, you’re undoubtedly wondering what benefits you may get via the state’s workers’ compensation system. This page outlines the several kinds of benefits available to injured workers, as well as the fundamental guidelines for calculating how much money you may get.
To be eligible for these benefits, you must disclose your accident to your employer, inform the first doctor you visit about the injury or sickness that it is work-related, and ensure that the doctor or your employer has filed the necessary paperwork with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC).
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Benefits for Temporary Total Disability
If you are unable to work due to an on-the-job accident or an occupational sickness, you are eligible to temporary total disability compensation. You will not be eligible for these benefits for the first week unless you have been out of work for at least two weeks. The amount of benefits is decided by the statewide average weekly wage (SAWW) at the time of your injury, with maximum and minimum amounts set by your typical earnings prior to being injured or being sick. There are also time constraints for receiving these benefits.
How Is the Amount of Temporary Total Disability Benefits Calculated in Ohio?
Ohio offers distinct rates of benefits at two phases of temporary complete disability, with somewhat varying dollar limits:
For the first 12 weeks, you’ll get weekly benefits equivalent to 72% of your pre-injury income, up to the SAWW or your pre-injury take-home pay (whichever is less).
After 12 weeks, your compensation will be two-thirds of your pre-injury earnings, up to the SAWW limit.
The maximum weekly payment for injuries sustained in 2021 is $1,019. (For earlier years, see the BWC website for a list of the maximums.)
If you also get Social Security retirement benefits, the maximum is reduced to two-thirds of the SAWW (or $679.33 for injuries sustained in 2021).
In most cases, the minimum for temporary total disability compensation is one-third of the SAWW. If you earned less before your accident, you will get the real amount of your salary.
In Ohio, how long do temporary total disability benefits last?
You may continue to receive temporary complete disability payments in Ohio until:
You are able to return to work, either at your previous employment or another open one that is within your skill set.
Your doctor feels your disease has improved as far as it can with therapy (a stage known as “maximum medical improvement”), or after 200 weeks.
Wage Loss Compensation in Ohio
Ohio gives “wage loss” benefits if you have temporary partial disability, which means you can’t perform your regular job due to a workplace accident or sickness, but you may work in some capacity. These payments are based on two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury weekly income and your current earnings, up to the SAWW. For example, if you formerly made $1,000 per week but now earn $400 per week, you will get two-thirds of $600 in benefits, or $400 each week.
You may get these benefits for up to 200 weeks if your employer offers you light-duty employment or if you find a new, lower-paying job. You’re also eligible to wage loss benefits while seeking for employment that accommodates your partial impairment; these benefits may last up to 52 weeks, which can be added to the 200-week limit for benefits after you’ve found a new job, for a total of 226 weeks.
Benefits for Permanent Total Disability
You’ll be scheduled for a medical exam after you’ve attained maximum medical improvement—or if you’re still getting temporary total disability payments at the 200-week mark—to determine whether you have any permanent restrictions as a consequence of your workplace accident or occupational illness.
If you meet the following criteria, you will be regarded permanently and utterly disabled:
You have entirely lost use of both hands, arms, feet, legs, or eyes, or any combination of two of those bodily parts; or you are unable to hold any long-term gainful work that requires skills you currently have or might reasonably obtain.
You will continue to receive weekly benefits at your temporary total disability rate for the remainder of your life if you have permanent complete disability.
Benefits for Permanent Partial Disability
If your doctor determines that you have a persistent impairment but not a complete disability, you may still be eligible for permanent partial disability compensation. Workers’ compensation in Ohio is calculated in three ways: for the loss of specific bodily parts, as a percentage of total disability, or as an award for extreme disfigurement.
Losses Planned
If you’ve had an amputation or entirely lost use of an eye or an extremity (such as fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, and legs), you’ll be eligible for permanent partial disability payments for the number of weeks specified in a state schedule for that body part. The weekly payment will be the same as the present SAWW. For example, if you lost your foot completely, you would get benefits for 150 weeks. The total benefits for an injury in 2021 would be $152,850 ($1,019 per week for 150 weeks).
Loss in Percentage
If you have a permanent impairment that is not due to the loss of one of the scheduled bodily parts, the doctor will assign a percentage to your permanent partial disability. Your benefits will then be computed at two-thirds of your average weekly income, with a cap of one-third of your current SAWW. Those benefits will be extended for the number of weeks equal to your percentage of disability multiplied by 200. For instance, if you have a 50% permanent handicap, you will be paid for 100 weeks. If your impairment is 90% or more, you will get payments for the whole 200 weeks.
Disfigurement
If you suffer a major deformity to your face or head that would make it difficult for you to obtain employment, the BWC may award you up to $10,000 in compensation.
Payments in Full for Permanent Partial Disability Benefits
In exceptional situations, the BWC may pay your permanent partial disability benefits in a single amount rather than monthly payments in order to provide you with immediate financial assistance or to assist you in rehabilitating.
Additional Ohio Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Other benefits provided by Ohio workers’ compensation to injured employees and their families include:
Medical advantages. Workers’ compensation will cover all reasonable and necessary medical therapy linked to your workplace accident or condition. Your employer should provide you with information on how to get medical care under workers’ compensation.
Mileage reimbursement is available. You may also be reimbursed for travel expenditures incurred in order to get approved medical care or a medical assessment that is not accessible in your area. When going by automobile, mileage is only available if the roundtrip distance exceeds 45 miles. Under some conditions, you may also be compensated for a cab, food, and housing.
Rehabilitation for the workforce. Ohio provides vocational rehabilitation programs to assist you continue at your current job (for example, via workplace modifications or physical therapy) or locate new work.
Living expenses. You may receive living maintenance payments for up to six months while participating in an authorized vocational rehabilitation programme (or longer if the BWC determines that you could benefit from an extension). The greatest amount of these benefits is the amount you would get if you were totally disabled; the minimum is 50% of your present SAWW.
The survivor receives benefits. Employees who die as a consequence of a work-related accident or sickness may be eligible for death benefits. The amount they will get is determined by their financial reliance on the departed employee. The benefit amount for surviving spouses, minor children, and other total dependents will be two-thirds of the employee’s average weekly income, up to a maximum of equal to the SAWW (unless the employee was receiving total permanent disability at the time of death). If there were several dependents, the death benefit would be divided among them.
Funeral costs. Workers’ compensation will also cover up to $7,500 in appropriate burial costs for a dead employee.
Workers’ Compensation Benefit Restrictions
As you can see, workers’ compensation payments only cover a percentage of your lost income due to a working accident or illness—and you won’t get compensated for your pain and suffering. This may not seem to be fair, but it is a necessary trade-off in the workers’ compensation system.
The benefit of workers’ compensation is that you may collect benefits promptly without having to file a lawsuit and establish that your employer was at fault for your injuries. The negative is that you will not obtain full reimbursement for your losses. (However, in a few restricted cases, you may be allowed to litigate outside of the workers’ compensation system to recover pain and suffering and other damages resulting from a workplace accident.)