Learn how Oklahoma determines the amount of compensation you may be entitled to for a work-related accident or sickness, as well as how workers’ compensation eligibility laws apply to infectious illnesses such as COVID-19.
If you were injured or were ill while working in Oklahoma, you may be eligible for a variety of benefits via the state workers’ compensation system, such as medical care and payments to offset a portion of your lost income. Your eligibility for certain benefits, as well as the amount you get, will be determined by numerous variables relevant to your case, such as the type of your injuries, your capacity to return to work, and the amount you earned before to being injured. This page describes how Indiana’s most essential workers’ compensation payouts are calculated. (To get these benefits, you must submit a workers’ compensation claim and demonstrate that your injury or sickness was caused by your job.)
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Is it possible to get workers’ compensation in Oklahoma if you get COVID-19 on the job?
Workers’ compensation in Oklahoma will cover an infectious sickness only if you can establish that the condition was caused by the nature of your employment (posing a risk of exposure to the illness) and that you got the disease while working and as a consequence of your work. Workers’ compensation also does not cover “common diseases of life to which the general public is exposed,” according to the legislation. Oklahoma Statute tit. 85a, 65 (2022).)
It is unclear if Oklahoma workers’ compensation courts would regard COVID-19 to be a normal illness of life. Nonetheless, most employees would struggle to qualify for workers’ compensation payments for the disease under the state’s rules. Some personnel, such as first responders or medical staff who provide direct treatment to COVID-19 patients, may be able to demonstrate that the nature of their professions puts them at a higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus. People also want data demonstrating that, more than likely, they developed the sickness at work rather than elsewhere in their life.
In response to the epidemic, several states have implemented legislation that makes it easier for some frontline workers to get workers’ compensation payments for COVID-19 by assuming that the illness is work-related until the employer shows otherwise. Oklahoma is not one of these states.
Oklahoma Temporary Disability Benefits
If you are unable to return to your usual job tasks, or if you are unable to work at all, you may be eligible for temporary disability payments. These benefits are not paid in Oklahoma for the first three days you are out of work. Oklahoma Statute tit. 85a, 45(A) (2022).)
Total Temporary Disability
If your accident or sickness prohibits you from doing your job or any other employment that your employer gives you, you may be eligible for temporary total disability (TTD) payments. TTD benefits are computed at 70% of your average weekly pay (AWW) in the year before your injury, with a maximum depending on statewide average earnings. The maximum TTD benefit for injuries occurring in 2022 is $953.18.
Despite the fact that these benefits are smaller than your regular wages, it’s worth noting that workers’ compensation payouts are often not taxed.
You will continue to get TTD benefits until the following conditions are met:
go back to work
attain maximum medical improvement (MMI), which occurs when your doctor concludes that therapy will no longer improve your disease; or have received TTD benefits for the maximum duration permitted by law.
TTD advantages are typically limited to 156 weeks. Soft tissue injuries (eight weeks), hernias (six weeks), and psychological difficulties caused by the initial physical damage have substantially lower time restrictions (26 weeks). Under some conditions, all of these restrictions may be lifted. Oklahoma Statutes tit. 85a, 13, 61, 62, 45(A) (2022).)
Partial Disability on a Temporary Basis (TPD)
If you are unable to do your usual job tasks while healing from your injuries but are able to complete any alternative work that your employer has provided, you will be eligible for temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits—unless you decline that alternative work offer. These benefits are computed as 70% of your pre-injury average weekly pay less your current earnings. However, the sum of your real wages and TPD compensation may not be more than the TTD rate.
Assume you were earning $900 per week before to your accident and are now working at a light-duty job paying $500. TPD benefits would be calculated to be $280 ($900 – $500 = $400 X.7). However, $280 plus your real earnings is $780 per week, which is more than the TTD rate for your pre-injury income ($900 X.7 = $630). To avoid exceeding the TTD rate, your TPD benefits would be $130 per week ($500 + $130 = $630).
TPD payments may be continued until you complete MMI or return to work at your pre-injury earnings, or for a maximum of 52 weeks. Oklahoma Statute tit. 85a, 45(B) (2022).)
Oklahoma Permanent Disability Benefits
When you achieve MMI, a doctor will examine you to determine if your work-related injury or illness has resulted in permanent limits and, if so, to what degree.
Benefits for Permanent Partial Disability
If you have persistent limits that prohibit you from working totally, your doctor will assign you a permanent partial disability (PPD) rating, which is represented as a percentage. PPD compensation will be 70% of your pre-injury income, up to a maximum of $360 per week, multiplied by a number of weeks determined by your disability rating percentage and the injured regions of your body.
Oklahoma law specifies the number of weeks for amputation or complete loss of use of certain bodily parts (mostly the extremities, ears, and eyes). The PPD algorithm will employ a number of weeks according to the percentage of impairment for less than complete loss of use. For example, the timetable displays 220 weeks for hand loss. If you lost 50% of your hand’s use, you would get 70% of your pre-injury earnings or $360 (whichever is less) for 110 weeks, for a total maximum benefit of $39,600.
Permanent impairments to other sections of the body, such as a back injury, brain injury, or renal damage, are reimbursed as a percentage of the entire body, for a total of 360 weeks. So, if the doctor assigned you a PPI rating of 25% for your whole body for a back injury, you would get benefits for 90 weeks (25% of 360), for a total maximum benefit of $31,500 ($350 X 90). (On the WCC website, in the “Benefits Charts” section, you may find “PPD Rate Charts” that illustrate projected benefit calculations for percentages of impairment to the total body and to scheduled body sections.)
If your accident has resulted in significant and permanent disfigurement and you have not received any PPD benefits for the damaged portion of your body, you may be eligible for a disfigurement award of up to $50,000.
PPD benefits are provided whether or not you return to your pre-injury employment. Instead of receiving these benefits in weekly installments, you may elect to receive a lump sum as part of a workers’ compensation settlement. (See Oklahoma Statutes tit. 38a, 45(C), 45(F), and 46 (2022).)
Total and Permanent Disability
If your accident or disease has rendered you fully unable to earn income performing any kind of eligible employment, you will be entitled to permanent total disability payments at the same rate as TTD benefits, based on your experience and training (including vocational rehabilitation training). These payments will be made for the next 15 years, or until you reach the full Social Security retirement age, whichever comes first. To continue receiving benefits, you must submit an affidavit every year stating that you are still unable of gainful work. Oklahoma Statute tit. 85a, 45(D) (2022).)
Other Worker’s Compensation Benefits in Oklahoma
Additional benefits provided under Oklahoma workers’ compensation include:
Medical attention. Workers’ compensation covers all reasonable and necessary medical care for a work-related accident or sickness, with no copays or deductibles. Oklahoma Statutes tit. 85a, 50, 51 (2020).) Learn more about receiving medical care via workers’ compensation.
Rehabilitation for the workforce. If you qualify for PPD benefits, you will also be eligible for vocational rehabilitation assistance. Even though you are not at MMI, the court may order that you get these therapies if your doctor feels you would be unable to return to your previous work. (See Oklahoma Statutes tit. 85a, 45(C)(10), and (E) (2022).)
Funeral expenditures and death benefits. When an employee is killed on the job, the surviving spouse and children may be entitled for death benefits. The payment fluctuates according on the number of dependents that survive. Workers’ compensation also covers funeral costs up to $10,000. Oklahoma Statute tit. 85a, 47 (2022).)
Obtaining Assistance in Collecting Workers’ Compensation Benefits
If your employer’s insurance company has dismissed your workers’ compensation claim, is withholding payments, or refuses to allow necessary medical care, you should consult with a workers’ compensation lawyer. A local attorney with knowledge in this field can review your case, explore the merits of pursuing an appeal, ensure your rights are preserved in a settlement agreement, and assist you in obtaining all of the benefits you are entitled to. (Learn more about how a competent workers’ compensation lawyer may assist you.)