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Compensation for disability shall be paid to the employee, subject to the limits provided in s. 440.12(2), as follows:
(1) PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY.--
(a) In case of total disability adjudged to be permanent, 662/3 percent of the average weekly wages shall be paid to the employee during the continuance of such total disability. No compensation shall be payable under this section if the employee is engaged in, or is physically capable of engaging in, at least sedentary employment.
(b) In the following cases, an injured employee is presumed to be permanently and totally disabled unless the employer or carrier establishes that the employee is physically capable of engaging in at least sedentary employment within a 50-mile radius of the employee's residence:
1. Spinal cord injury involving severe paralysis of an arm, a leg, or the trunk;
2. Amputation of an arm, a hand, a foot, or a leg involving the effective loss of use of that appendage;
3. Severe brain or closed-head injury as evidenced by:
a. Severe sensory or motor disturbances;
b. Severe communication disturbances;
c. Severe complex integrated disturbances of cerebral function;
d. Severe episodic neurological disorders; or
e. Other severe brain and closed-head injury conditions at least as severe in nature as any condition provided in sub-subparagraphs a.-d.;
4. Second-degree or third-degree burns of 25 percent or more of the total body surface or third-degree burns of 5 percent or more to the face and hands; or
5. Total or industrial blindness.
In all other cases, in order to obtain permanent total disability benefits, the employee must establish that he or she is not able to engage in at least sedentary employment, within a 50-mile radius of the employee's residence, due to his or her physical limitation. Entitlement to such benefits shall cease when the employee reaches age 75, unless the employee is not eligible for social security benefits under 42 U.S.C. s. 402 or s. 423 because the employee's compensable injury has prevented the employee from working sufficient quarters to be eligible for such benefits, notwithstanding any age limits. If the accident occurred on or after the employee reaches age 70, benefits shall be payable during the continuance of permanent total disability, not to exceed 5 years following the determination of permanent total disability. Only claimants with catastrophic injuries or claimants who are incapable of engaging in employment, as described in this paragraph, are eligible for permanent total benefits. In no other case may permanent total disability be awarded.
(c) In cases of permanent total disability resulting from injuries that occurred prior to July 1, 1955, such payments shall not be made in excess of 700 weeks.
(d) If an employee who is being paid compensation for permanent total disability becomes rehabilitated to the extent that she or he establishes an earning capacity, the employee shall be paid, instead of the compensation provided in paragraph (a), benefits pursuant to subsection (3). The department shall adopt rules to enable a permanently and totally disabled employee who may have reestablished an earning capacity to undertake a trial period of reemployment without prejudicing her or his return to permanent total status in the case that such employee is unable to sustain an earning capacity.
(e)1. The employer's or carrier's right to conduct vocational evaluations or testing by the employer's or carrier's chosen rehabilitation advisor or provider continues even after the employee has been accepted or adjudicated as entitled to compensation under this chapter and costs for such evaluations and testing shall be borne by the employer or carrier, respectively. This right includes, but is not limited to, instances in which such evaluations or tests are recommended by a treating physician or independent medical-examination physician, instances warranted by a change in the employee's medical condition, or instances in which the employee appears to be making appropriate progress in recuperation. This right may not be exercised more than once every calendar year.
2. The carrier must confirm the scheduling of the vocational evaluation or testing in writing, and must notify the employee and the employee's counsel, if any, at least 7 days before the date on which vocational evaluation or testing is scheduled to occur.
3. The employer or carrier may withhold payment of benefits for permanent total disability or supplements for any period during which the employee willfully fails or refuses to appear without good cause for the scheduled vocational evaluation or testing.
(f)1. If permanent total disability results from injuries that occurred subsequent to June 30, 1955, and for which the liability of the employer for compensation has not been discharged under s. 440.20(11), the injured employee shall receive additional weekly compensation benefits equal to 3 percent of her or his weekly compensation rate, as established pursuant to the law in effect on the date of her or his injury, multiplied by the number of calendar years since the date of injury. The weekly compensation payable and the additional benefits payable under this paragraph, when combined, may not exceed the maximum weekly compensation rate in effect at the time of payment as determined pursuant to s. 440.12(2). These supplemental payments shall not be paid or payable after the employee attains age 62, regardless of whether the employee has applied for or is eligible to apply for social security benefits under 42 U.S.C. s. 402 or s. 423, unless the employee is not eligible for social security benefits under 42 U.S.C. s. 402 or s. 423 because the employee's compensable injury has prevented the employee from working sufficient quarters to be eligible for such benefits. These supplemental benefits shall be paid by the department out of the Workers' Compensation Administration Trust Fund when the injury occurred subsequent to June 30, 1955, and before July 1, 1984. These supplemental benefits shall be paid by the employer when the injury occurred on or after July 1, 1984. Supplemental benefits are not payable for any period prior to October 1, 1974.
2.a. The department shall provide by rule for the periodic reporting to the department of all earnings of any nature and social security income by the injured employee entitled to or claiming additional compensation under subparagraph 1. Neither the department nor the employer or carrier shall make any payment of those additional benefits provided by subparagraph 1. for any period during which the employee willfully fails or refuses to report upon request by the department in the manner prescribed by such rules.
b. The department shall provide by rule for the periodic reporting to the employer or carrier of all earnings of any nature and social security income by the injured employee entitled to or claiming benefits for permanent total disability. The employer or carrier is not required to make any payment of benefits for permanent total disability for any period during which the employee willfully fails or refuses to report upon request by the employer or carrier in the manner prescribed by such rules or if any employee who is receiving permanent total disability benefits refuses to apply for or cooperate with the employer or carrier in applying for social security benefits.
3. When an injured employee receives a full or partial lump-sum advance of the employee's permanent total disability compensation benefits, the employee's benefits under this paragraph shall be computed on the employee's weekly compensation rate as reduced by the lump-sum advance.
(2) TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABILITY.--
(a) Subject to subsection (7), in case of disability total in character but temporary in quality, 662/3 percent of the average weekly wages shall be paid to the employee during the continuance thereof, not to exceed 104 weeks except as provided in this subsection, s. 440.12(1), and s. 440.14(3). Once the employee reaches the maximum number of weeks allowed, or the employee reaches the date of maximum medical improvement, whichever occurs earlier, temporary disability benefits shall cease and the injured worker's permanent impairment shall be determined.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), an employee who has sustained the loss of an arm, leg, hand, or foot, has been rendered a paraplegic, paraparetic, quadriplegic, or quadriparetic, or has lost the sight of both eyes shall be paid temporary total disability of 80 percent of her or his average weekly wage. The increased temporary total disability compensation provided for in this paragraph must not extend beyond 6 months from the date of the accident; however, such benefits shall not be due or payable if the employee is eligible for, entitled to, or collecting permanent total disability benefits. The compensation provided by this paragraph is not subject to the limits provided in s. 440.12(2), but instead is subject to a maximum weekly compensation rate of $700. If, at the conclusion of this period of increased temporary total disability compensation, the employee is still temporarily totally disabled, the employee shall continue to receive temporary total disability compensation as set forth in paragraphs (a) and (c). The period of time the employee has received this increased compensation will be counted as part of, and not in addition to, the maximum periods of time for which the employee is entitled to compensation under paragraph (a) but not paragraph (c).
(c) Temporary total disability benefits paid pursuant to this subsection shall include such period as may be reasonably necessary for training in the use of artificial members and appliances, and shall include such period as the employee may be receiving training and education under a program pursuant to s. 440.491.
(d) The department shall, by rule, provide for the periodic reporting to the department, employer, or carrier of all earned income, including income from social security, by the injured employee who is entitled to or claiming benefits for temporary total disability. The employer or carrier is not required to make any payment of benefits for temporary total disability for any period during which the employee willfully fails or refuses to report upon request by the employer or carrier in the manner prescribed by the rules. The rule must require the claimant to personally sign the claim form and attest that she or he has reviewed, understands, and acknowledges the foregoing.
(3) PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT BENEFITS.--
(a) Once the employee has reached the date of maximum medical improvement, impairment benefits are due and payable within 14 days after the carrier has knowledge of the impairment.
(b) The three-member panel, in cooperation with the department, shall establish and use a uniform permanent impairment rating schedule. This schedule must be based on medically or scientifically demonstrable findings as well as the systems and criteria set forth in the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment; the Snellen Charts, published by the American Medical Association Committee for Eye Injuries; and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Disability Schedules. The schedule must be based upon objective findings. The schedule shall be more comprehensive than the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment and shall expand the areas already addressed and address additional areas not currently contained in the guides. On August 1, 1979, and pending the adoption, by rule, of a permanent schedule, Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, copyright 1977, 1971, 1988, by the American Medical Association, shall be the temporary schedule and shall be used for the purposes hereof. For injuries after July 1, 1990, pending the adoption by rule of a uniform disability rating agency schedule, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Disability Schedule shall be used unless that schedule does not address an injury. In such case, the Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment by the American Medical Association shall be used. Determination of permanent impairment under this schedule must be made by a physician licensed under chapter 458, a doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed under chapters 458 and 459, a chiropractic physician licensed under chapter 460, a podiatric physician licensed under chapter 461, an optometrist licensed under chapter 463, or a dentist licensed under chapter 466, as appropriate considering the nature of the injury. No other persons are authorized to render opinions regarding the existence of or the extent of permanent impairment.
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See Wage Loss Discount Factors Table
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(c) All impairment income benefits shall be based on an impairment rating using the impairment schedule referred to in paragraph (b). Impairment income benefits are paid biweekly at the rate of 75 percent of the employee's average weekly temporary total disability benefit not to exceed the maximum weekly benefit under s. 440.12; provided, however, that such benefits shall be reduced by 50 percent for each week in which the employee has earned income equal to or in excess of the employee's average weekly wage. An employee's entitlement to impairment income benefits begins the day after the employee reaches maximum medical improvement or the expiration of temporary benefits, whichever occurs earlier, and continues until the earlier of:
1. The expiration of a period computed at the rate of 3 weeks for each percentage point of impairment; or
2. The death of the employee.
Impairment income benefits as defined by this subsection are payable only for impairment ratings for physical impairments. If objective medical findings can substantiate a permanent psychiatric impairment resulting from the accident, permanent impairment benefits are limited for the permanent psychiatric impairment to 1-percent permanent impairment.
(d) After the employee has been certified by a doctor as having reached maximum medical improvement or 6 weeks before the expiration of temporary benefits, whichever occurs earlier, the certifying doctor shall evaluate the condition of the employee and assign an impairment rating, using the impairment schedule referred to in paragraph (b). If the certification and evaluation are performed by a doctor other than the employee's treating doctor, the certification and evaluation must be submitted to the treating doctor, the employee, and the carrier within 10 days after the evaluation. The treating doctor must indicate to the carrier agreement or disagreement with the other doctor's certification and evaluation.
1. The certifying doctor shall issue a written report to the employee and the carrier certifying that maximum medical improvement has been reached, stating the impairment rating to the body as a whole, and providing any other information required by the department by rule. The carrier shall establish an overall maximum medical improvement date and permanent impairment rating, based upon all such reports.
2. Within 14 days after the carrier's knowledge of each maximum medical improvement date and impairment rating to the body as a whole upon which the carrier is paying benefits, the carrier shall report such maximum medical improvement date and, when determined, the overall maximum medical improvement date and associated impairment rating to the department in a format as set forth in department rule. If the employee has not been certified as having reached maximum medical improvement before the expiration of 98 weeks after the date temporary disability benefits begin to accrue, the carrier shall notify the treating doctor of the requirements of this section.
(e) The carrier shall pay the employee impairment income benefits for a period based on the impairment rating.
(f) The department may by rule specify forms and procedures governing the method of payment of benefits under this section.
(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (c), for accidents occurring on or after October 1, 2003, an employee's entitlement to impairment income benefits begins the day after the employee reaches maximum medical improvement or the expiration of temporary benefits, whichever occurs earlier, and continues for the following periods:
1. Two weeks of benefits are to be paid to the employee for each percentage point of impairment from 1 percent up to and including 10 percent.
2. For each percentage point of impairment from 11 percent up to and including 15 percent, 3 weeks of benefits are to be paid.
3. For each percentage point of impairment from 16 percent up to and including 20 percent, 4 weeks of benefits are to be paid.
4. For each percentage point of impairment from 21 percent and higher, 6 weeks of benefits are to be paid.
(4) TEMPORARY PARTIAL DISABILITY.--
(a) Subject to subsection (7), in case of temporary partial disability, compensation shall be equal to 80 percent of the difference between 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage and the salary, wages, and other remuneration the employee is able to earn postinjury, as compared weekly; however, weekly temporary partial disability benefits may not exceed an amount equal to 662/3 percent of the employee's average weekly wage at the time of accident. In order to simplify the comparison of the preinjury average weekly wage with the salary, wages, and other remuneration the employee is able to earn postinjury, the department may by rule provide for payment of the initial installment of temporary partial disability benefits to be paid as a partial week so that payment for remaining weeks of temporary partial disability can coincide as closely as possible with the postinjury employer's work week. The amount determined to be the salary, wages, and other remuneration the employee is able to earn shall in no case be less than the sum actually being earned by the employee, including earnings from sheltered employment. Benefits shall be payable under this subsection only if overall maximum medical improvement has not been reached and the medical conditions resulting from the accident create restrictions on the injured employee's ability to return to work.
(b) Within 5 business days after the carrier's knowledge of the employee's release to restricted work, the carrier shall mail to the employee and employer an informational letter, adopted by department rule, explaining the employee's possible eligibility and responsibilities for temporary partial disability benefits.
(c) When an employee returns to work with the restrictions resulting from the accident and is earning wages less than 80 percent of the preinjury average weekly wage, the first installment of temporary partial disability benefits is due 7 days after the last date of the postinjury employer's first biweekly work week. Thereafter, payment for temporary partial benefits shall be paid biweekly no later than the 7th day following the last day of each biweekly work week.
(d) If the employee is unable to return to work with the restrictions resulting from the accident and is not earning wages, salary, or other remuneration, temporary partial disability benefits shall be paid no later than the last day of each biweekly period. The employee shall notify the carrier within 5 business days after returning to work. Failure to notify the carrier of the establishment of an earning capacity in the required time shall result in a suspension or nonpayment of temporary partial disability benefits until the proper notification is provided.
(e) Such benefits shall be paid during the continuance of such disability, not to exceed a period of 104 weeks, as provided by this subsection and subsection (2). Once the injured employee reaches the maximum number of weeks, temporary disability benefits cease and the injured worker's permanent impairment must be determined. If the employee is terminated from postinjury employment based on the employee's misconduct, temporary partial disability benefits are not payable as provided for in this section. The department shall by rule specify forms and procedures governing the method and time for payment of temporary disability benefits for dates of accidents before January 1, 1994, and for dates of accidents on or after January 1, 1994.
(5) SUBSEQUENT INJURY.--
(a) The fact that an employee has suffered previous disability, impairment, anomaly, or disease, or received compensation therefor, shall not preclude her or him from benefits, as specified in paragraph (b), for a subsequent aggravation or acceleration of the preexisting condition or preclude benefits for death resulting therefrom, except that no benefits shall be payable if the employee, at the time of entering into the employment of the employer by whom the benefits would otherwise be payable, falsely represents herself or himself in writing as not having previously been disabled or compensated because of such previous disability, impairment, anomaly, or disease and the employer detrimentally relies on the misrepresentation.
(b) If a compensable injury, disability, or need for medical care, or any portion thereof, is a result of aggravation or acceleration of a preexisting condition, or is the result of merger with a preexisting condition, only the disabilities and medical treatment associated with such compensable injury shall be payable under this chapter, excluding the degree of disability or medical conditions existing at the time of the impairment rating or at the time of the accident, regardless of whether the preexisting condition was disabling at the time of the accident or at the time of the impairment rating and without considering whether the preexisting condition would be disabling without the compensable accident. The degree of permanent impairment or disability attributable to the accident or injury shall be compensated in accordance with this section, apportioning out the preexisting condition based on the anatomical impairment rating attributable to the preexisting condition. Medical benefits shall be paid apportioning out the percentage of the need for such care attributable to the preexisting condition. As used in this paragraph, "merger" means the combining of a preexisting permanent impairment or disability with a subsequent compensable permanent impairment or disability which, when the effects of both are considered together, result in a permanent impairment or disability rating which is greater than the sum of the two permanent impairment or disability ratings when each impairment or disability is considered individually.
(6) EMPLOYEE REFUSES EMPLOYMENT.--If an injured employee refuses employment suitable to the capacity thereof, offered to or procured therefor, such employee shall not be entitled to any compensation at any time during the continuance of such refusal unless at any time in the opinion of the judge of compensation claims such refusal is justifiable. Time periods for the payment of benefits in accordance with this section shall be counted in determining the limitation of benefits as provided for in paragraphs (2)(a), (3)(c), and 1(4)(b).
(7) EMPLOYEE LEAVES EMPLOYMENT.--If an injured employee, when receiving compensation for temporary partial disability, leaves the employment of the employer by whom she or he was employed at the time of the accident for which such compensation is being paid, the employee shall, upon securing employment elsewhere, give to such former employer an affidavit in writing containing the name of her or his new employer, the place of employment, and the amount of wages being received at such new employment; and, until she or he gives such affidavit, the compensation for temporary partial disability will cease. The employer by whom such employee was employed at the time of the accident for which such compensation is being paid may also at any time demand of such employee an additional affidavit in writing containing the name of her or his employer, the place of her or his employment, and the amount of wages she or he is receiving; and if the employee, upon such demand, fails or refuses to make and furnish such affidavit, her or his right to compensation for temporary partial disability shall cease until such affidavit is made and furnished. If the employee leaves her or his employment while receiving temporary partial benefits without just cause as determined by the judge of compensation claims, temporary partial benefits shall be payable based on the deemed earnings of the employee as if she or he had remained employed.
(8) EMPLOYEE BECOMES INMATE OF INSTITUTION.--In case an employee becomes an inmate of a public institution, then no compensation shall be payable unless she or he has dependent upon her or him for support a person or persons defined as dependents elsewhere in this chapter, whose dependency shall be determined as if the employee were deceased and to whom compensation would be paid in case of death; and such compensation as is due such employee shall be paid such dependents during the time she or he remains such inmate.
(9) EMPLOYEE ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS UNDER THIS CHAPTER AND FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE ACT.--
(a) Weekly compensation benefits payable under this chapter for disability resulting from injuries to an employee who becomes eligible for benefits under 42 U.S.C. s. 423 shall be reduced to an amount whereby the sum of such compensation benefits payable under this chapter and such total benefits otherwise payable for such period to the employee and her or his dependents, had such employee not been entitled to benefits under this chapter, under 42 U.S.C. ss. 402 and 423, does not exceed 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage. However, this provision shall not operate to reduce an injured worker's benefits under this chapter to a greater extent than such benefits would have otherwise been reduced under 42 U.S.C. s. 424(a). This reduction of compensation benefits is not applicable to any compensation benefits payable for any week subsequent to the week in which the injured worker reaches the age of 62 years.
(b) If the provisions of 42 U.S.C. s. 424(a) are amended to provide for a reduction or increase of the percentage of average current earnings that the sum of compensation benefits payable under this chapter and the benefits payable under 42 U.S.C. ss. 402 and 423 can equal, the amount of the reduction of benefits provided in this subsection shall be reduced or increased accordingly. The department may by rule specify forms and procedures governing the method for calculating and administering the offset of benefits payable under this chapter and benefits payable under 42 U.S.C. ss. 402 and 423. The department shall have first priority in taking any available social security offsets on dates of accidents occurring before July 1, 1984.
(c) Disability compensation benefits payable for any week, including those benefits provided by paragraph (1)(f), may not be reduced pursuant to this subsection until the Social Security Administration determines the amount otherwise payable to the employee under 42 U.S.C. ss. 402 and 423 and the employee has begun receiving such social security benefit payments. The employee shall, upon demand by the department, the employer, or the carrier, authorize the Social Security Administration to release disability information relating to her or him and authorize the Agency for Workforce Innovation to release unemployment compensation information relating to her or him, in accordance with rules to be adopted by the department prescribing the procedure and manner for requesting the authorization and for compliance by the employee. The department or the employer or carrier may not make any payment of benefits for total disability or those additional benefits provided by paragraph (1)(f) for any period during which the employee willfully fails or refuses to authorize the release of information in the manner and within the time prescribed by such rules. The authority for release of disability information granted by an employee under this paragraph is effective for a period not to exceed 12 months and such authority may be renewed, as the department prescribes by rule.
(d) If compensation benefits are reduced pursuant to this subsection, the minimum compensation provisions of s. 440.12(2) do not apply.
(10) EMPLOYEE ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS UNDER THIS CHAPTER WHO HAS RECEIVED OR IS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.--
(a) No compensation benefits shall be payable for temporary total disability or permanent total disability under this chapter for any week in which the injured employee has received, or is receiving, unemployment compensation benefits.
(b) If an employee is entitled to temporary partial benefits pursuant to subsection (4) and unemployment compensation benefits, such unemployment compensation benefits shall be primary and the temporary partial benefits shall be supplemental only, the sum of the two benefits not to exceed the amount of temporary partial benefits which would otherwise be payable.
(11) FULL-PAY STATUS FOR CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.--Any law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3) who, while acting within the course of employment as provided by s. 440.091, is maliciously or intentionally injured and who thereby sustains a job-connected disability compensable under this chapter shall be carried in full-pay status rather than being required to use sick, annual, or other leave. Full-pay status shall be granted only after submission to the employing agency's head of a medical report which gives a current diagnosis of the employee's recovery and ability to return to work. In no case shall the employee's salary and workers' compensation benefits exceed the amount of the employee's regular salary requirements.
(12) REPAYMENT.--If an employee has received a sum as an indemnity benefit under any classification or category of benefit under this chapter to which she or he is not entitled, the employee is liable to repay that sum to the employer or the carrier or to have that sum deducted from future benefits, regardless of the classification of benefits, payable to the employee under this chapter; however, a partial payment of the total repayment may not exceed 20 percent of the amount of the biweekly payment.
History.--s. 15, ch. 17481, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 5966(15); s. 4, ch. 20672, 1941; s. 2, ch. 22814, 1945; s. 1, ch. 23921, 1947; s. 11, ch. 25035, 1949; s. 1, ch. 26877, 1951; s. 10, ch. 26484, 1951; s. 1, ch. 29803, 1955; s. 3, ch. 29778, 1955; s. 1, ch. 59-103; s. 1, ch. 59-102; s. 2, ch. 61-119; s. 1, ch. 61-188; s. 1, ch. 63-235; s. 1, ch. 65-168; ss. 17, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 70-71; s. 1, ch. 70-312; s. 5, ch. 73-127; s. 9, ch. 74-197; s. 6, ch. 75-209; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 4, ch. 77-290; ss. 5, 23, ch. 78-300; ss. 10, 124, ch. 79-40; ss. 8, 21, ch. 79-312; s. 5, ch. 80-236; s. 5, ch. 81-119; s. 275, ch. 81-259; ss. 1, 3, ch. 82-237; s. 8, ch. 83-174; s. 5, ch. 83-305; s. 2, ch. 84-267; s. 3, ch. 86-171; s. 3. ch. 87-330; s. 4, ch. 88-203; ss. 12, 43, ch. 89-289; ss. 20, 56, ch. 90-201; ss. 18, 52, ch. 91-1; s. 20, ch. 93-415; s. 73, ch. 96-418; s. 1052, ch. 97-103; s. 47, ch. 97-264; s. 2, ch. 98-125; ss. 190, 261, ch. 98-166; s. 92, ch. 2000-153; s. 65, ch. 2001-62; s. 28, ch. 2002-194; s. 52, ch. 2003-1; s. 11, ch. 2003-36; s. 18, ch. 2003-412; s. 62, ch. 2004-5.
1 Note: Paragraph (4)(b) does not reference time periods for payment of benefits. The appropriate reference may be to paragraph (4)(e).
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Relevant Case Law
Note: Competent, substantial evidence is required to sustain deputy commisioner's finding that two accidents merged to cause a permanent partial disability greater than that which would have resulted from the subsequent injury standing alone.
Note: A questionable measurement of the degree of impairment does not constitute reversible error when the award is otherwise supported by the record.
Note: MMI date is based upon competent substantial evidence and coincides with the end of temporary benefits and the beginning of permanent benefits; when analyzing current and prior injuries, the employer should not be placed in the position of making double compensation payments.
Note: Employer can reduce weekly compensation benefits such that total benfits payable to employee and dependents does not exceed 80% of the higher of employee's average weekly salary or employee's average current earnings.
Note: For merger to occur, the claimant must have suffered a permanent impairment attributable to each of the two separate and distinct accidents; before assessing a disability rating based on loss of wage-earning capacity, a deputy commissioner must have made a finding of physical impairment.
Note: Wage loss benefits are available only if the claimant establishes the asserted wage loss is the result of the compensable injury.
Note: In these circumstances, wage-loss benefits were not properly denied merely because wage-loss reports were delayed.
Note: Wages earned during the entire 13-week period prior to the injury are the preferred compensation rate base.
Note: Where there is no medical evidence that a claimant is unable to work, he must make an adequate work search or a conscientious effort to return to work in order to establish entitlement to TTD.
Note: Payment of wage loss benefits are authorized only after a claimant reaches MMI.
Note: Where rehabilitation is involved, the date of maximum medical improvement is artifically established by statute after the rehabilitation program has been completed.
Note: Benefits based on physical impairment of the body as a whole must be supported by substantial competent evidence.
Note: Appellants are not authorized to retroactively apply an off-set to recover past payments made to appellee.
Note: Evidence as to emergency hospitalization must be offered when attempting to meet the emergency exception to ยง 440.13; employee weekly compensation to claimant combined with social security disability benefits, cannot exceed 80% of the employee's average weekly wage.
Note: An order of a deputy commissioner must be unambiguous and caontain sufficient findings of fact so as to enable meaningful appellate review of PPD and wage-earning capacity.
Note: Ability to return to work, as opposed to the actual securing of employment, marks the termination of temporary total disability
Note: Deputy had no authority to reserve jurisdiction to rule on issue of whether wage-earning capacity exceeded PPD; where an employer/carrier unsuccessfully controverts a claim, an award of interest on the amount of benefits that should have been paid is automatic.
Note: A Deputy Commissioner's award of TPD must be supported by substantial competent evidence.
Note: If there is no diminution of wage-earning capacity, the PPD rating must be based only upon the anatomical impairment sustained.
Note: The burden is on the employee to establish that any wage loss benefit claimed is a result of the compensable injury.
Note: When a claimant prevails on the issue of unpaid doctor bills, and the doctor's testimony was relevant thereto, a witness fee should be awarded as costs.
Note: When there are two successive compensable injuries, they should be paid "by extending the period and not by increasing the amount of weekly compensation."
Note: When arguing a claimant can secure more lucrative work, the burden of proof must be carried by the employer/carrier.
Note: An injury cannot be considered unless it was related to or caused by the industrial accident.
Note: A claimant who has reached MMI and has been released by her physician is not ordinarily entitled to further medical treatment.
Note: It is an error to find that claimant's entitlement to consideration of her wage-earning capacity loss was dependent upon a job search.
Note: A state is not liable for interest on its debts unless consented to by act of the legislature or by lawful contract of its executive officers.
Note: A conclusion may be based on the testimony of a claimant to the exclusion of a medical expert.
Note: In absence of a proper work search an award of loss of wage earning capacity benefits is improper.
Note: A deputy should dispose of issues only upon their submission when mature.
Note: Claims can be denied for lack of reports which would permit monitoring and provide notice of the treatment.
Note: Uniforms, parking, and meal allowances should be included in calculating AWW.
Note: The carrier may reduce compensation payments to account for social security benefits only prospectively, as of the date it exercises its right.
Note: Deputy should not reserve jurisdiction, rather rule on the issue of whether wage-earning capacity exceeds anatomical PPD.
Note: Employer/carrier has the burden to prove the appropriateness and applicability of the social security offset provision.
Note: Deputy Commissioner may give greater weight to the opinions of one medical expert over another provided some reason is given. Deputy's finding of disability must be declared as to whether based on physical impairment or loss of wage-earning capacity.
Note: In the absence of medical evidence as to any permanent impairment, the deputy commissioner is precluded from finding such an impairment.
Note: Once a diagnosis is made, the applicable table must be used, and it may not be combined with any other table or subjective factor to produce a rating in excess of that permitted.
Note: Non-final orders of a deputy commissioner are not subject to direct review.
Note: Wage loss benefits are not available to an employee who has reached the age of 65 and has become eligible for social security benefits.
Note: When an employer/carrier admits a compensable injury, there is no basis for assessing attorney's fees.
Note: Wage loss must be the result of a compensable injury in order for a claimant to be entitled to wage-loss benefits.
Note: A claimant does not need to show that her wage-loss is due soley to her compensable injury in order to be entitled to wage-loss benefits.
Note: When there is no other competent evidence of total inability to work, a conscientious effort to return to work is a prerequisite for an award of temporary total disability benefits.
Note: It is no longer necessary for a claimant to prove directly that jobs were available which she could not get because of her physical limitations.
Note: Permanent impairment can be proved by qualified expert testimony based on the training, experience, and expertise of the witness or on other accepted medical guides or schedules prepared by specialist groups or associations.
Note: The code does not bar claimant's entitlement to benefits that may have accrued before the carrier's knowledge of the impairment.
Note: Absent a connection to workers' compensation matters, an employer's ill-motivated firing of an employee cannot be recompensed under Chapter 440.
Note: Since the claimant conducted a competent, good faith job search, the burden is upon the employer to demonstrate that the claimant has refused work or has somehow voluntarily limited his income.
Note: Routine accomdation of injured workers by placing into established qualifying positions is not 'sheltered employment'
Note: Fl. can use
Note: Fl. can use
Note: The transition from temporary to permanent compensation benefits does not affect the amount of an offset already being taken.
Note: The 104 week time limit on temporary disability benefits are calculated cumulatively, not consecutively.
Note: In determining eligibility for PTD, the E/C has the burden to demonstrate, by the conclusive proof required statutorily, that claimant maintained a substantial earning capacity despite her impairment.
Note: Certain amputees are entitled to PTD and TTD.
Note: Temporary rehabilitative benefits should not be included in the 104-week time limit on TDB.
Note: In order to receive PTD the claimant must show that he has a catastrophic injury.
Note: Voluntarily limiting your income is not a bar to impairment income benefits.
Note: Where a claimant has both orthopedic and psychiatric injuries, permanent disability benefits cannot be awarded prior to the claimant's reaching MMI from both disorders
Note: A determination of MMI must precede a PTD award.
Note: No attorney's fees against the Dept. of Labor pursuant to 440.20.
Note: For the E/C to get a retroactive offset for SSD payments it needs to show that there was a good reason that they failed to raise the issue earlier.
Note: Supplemental benefits shall be included in calculating a social security offset.
Note: The initial amount of supplemental benefits should not be included in the calculation of a Grice offset.
Note: When a claimant puts the E/C on notice that an installment is more than 7 days past due, they have not forfeited their right to ask for related penalties.
Note: Where a claimant is injured and reaches PTD prior to age 62, the claimant is not entitled to supplemental benefits after age 65.
Note: Absent circumstances beyond the E/C's control, they cannot prevent a 20% penalty for being late on an installment payment simply by filing a notice of denial.
Note: For an E/C to be liable to the claimant's attorney for fees in securing PTD benefits, there needs to be competent substantial evidence that the claimant received more than she had already been receiving from the E/C.
Note: Existance of a managed care arrangement is not dispositive of a claim for indemnity benefits.
Note: Impairment income benefits are payable at 50% of the average weekly temporary total disability benefit.
Note: Even if claimant had lied about her medical history on her job application, her claim is not barred by the Martin rule if there is a causal relationship between the undisclosed injury and the on-the-job injury.
Note: When a claimant elects to recover from FWCIGA, he/she has not necessarily waives any right to recover costs and fees from the employer.
Note: Social security offset applies to the maximum compensation rate, not the 'actual compensation rate.'
Note: when a claimant is receiving SSD benefits in addition to workers' compensation an employer/carrier may offset workers' compensation benefits but only to the extent that the claimant's benefits exceed 80 percent of AWW or ACE, whichever is greater.
Note: Fibromyalgia is not a compensable ailment but just because one out of four reporting physicians believes the claimant has it doesn't mean the claim is automatically invalid.
Note: Employer must notify the claimant that they must apply for SSD benefits.
Note: Court declined to decide whether there should be retroactive computation of the PTD benefits to the claimant because issue was not raised properly below.
Note: The E/C, in trying to comply with federal law banning discrimination against disabled employers, created a sheltered position for the claimant. They cannot use that employment to deny PTD benefits.
Note: It is improper to recalculate a workers' compensation offset, once the initial calculation has been made, based upon any cost-of-living increases in collateral benefits.
Note: The Hunt formula must be used to calculate offset by using the weekly amount of social security benefits as the maximun offset.
Note: an adverse decision by the Social Security Administration does not constitute a condition subsequent that would cancel a PTD award.
Note: Social security retirement benefits are not a "collateral source" and there is no offset for them.
Note: Even though an E/C may be materially prejudiced by granting advance indemnity benefits when a claimant may be able to work again at any time, because it may be difficult to recoup that money, the legislature has not made provisions for this in code.
Note: The set-off for social security benefits is self executing and can be applied unilaterally by the employer.
Note: An injured worker, except where expressly given such a right by contract, may not receive benefits from his employer and other collateral sources which, when totaled, exceed 100% of his average weekly wage.
Note: An employee is liable for any overpayments of indemnity benefits and allowing the employer/carrier to recover the overpayments by reducing compensation payments by 20 percent.
Note: Under a statute imposing a continuing obligation to pay benefits, like the workers compensation statutes, separate causes of action arise from the failure to make payments that come due at different times.
Note: E/C is entitled to an offset only from the time it was first asserted.
Note: Offsets are not to be recalculated annually to account for cost-of-living increases in supplemental benefits.
Note: Where the employer and employee are arguing as to whether the dismissal of the employee was justifiable where the employer claims he would not return to work and the employee claims accomodations for his disability were not given, there is no dispute as to whether the dismissal was retaliatory in nature.
Note: Claimant with carpal tunnel syndrome failed to prove that her occupation made her more prone than the general population to the syndrome, hence failing to prove an occupational disease.
Note: Recalculating the disability pension offset every year, so as to include the increase in supplemental benefits, frustrates the intended purpose of supplemental benefits.
Note: A claimant may receive TPD if he or she makes less than 80% of his or her AWW, but more than the maximum while working with the employer post accident.
Note: It is improper to recalculate a workers' compensation offset, once the initial calculation has been made, based upon any cost-of-living increases in collateral benefits.
Note: 104 weeks of temporary total disability benefits exhausts entitlement to temporary benefits of any kind.
Note: The appellate court will not reverse a technical error that the JCC was not asked to correct within the allowable time.
Note: Offset can be recalculated when claimant who has been receiving one type of collateral benefit later begins receiving another type in addition.
Note: Where more than one injury caused PTD the carriers shall apportion the costs.
Note: In awarding a claimant temporary partial disability benefits, she must show that her wage loss was related to her disability.
Note: A claimant who incurs legal expenses in connection with a workers' compensation injury will have such fees excluded when computing a federal offset.
Note: The JCC's cannot deny benefits because claimant voluntarily moved, without finding that the move was the product of improper motivation.
Note: An injured employee who refuses employment suitable to her capacity, which has been offered or procured to her, shall not be entitled to any compensation at any time during the continuance of such refusal unless there is a justifiable reason.
Note: Only permanent impairment resulting from the compensable injury serves as a basis for wage loss eligibility.
Note: A rule nisi procedure is riot to be used to determine the merits of the underlying compensation order or to resolve factual disputes between the parties.
Note: Law enforcement officers' full-pay status shall be granted only after submission to the employing agency's head of a medical report which gives a current diagnosis of the employee's recovery and ability to return to work.
Note: An injured or defrauded claimant does not have a private right of action.
Note: When an employee receives SSD benefits, the employer/carrier's offset can be no more than the total of the employee's SSD benefits.
Note: A claimant is not entitled to PTD benefits unless the compensable injury incurred in the course and scope of employment and is a catastrophic injury.
Note: When an injured employee receives the equivalent of his full wages from whatever employer source that should be the limit of compensation to which he is entitled.
Note: A quasi-contract cannot form the basis for a statutory employment relationship, but are formed after-the-fact as a form of restitution.
Note: There is no express age limit for PTD so it does not matter if the claimant is eligible for SS.
Note: No authorization for phsychiatric care absent evidence that such care is medically necessary where the claimant presented no medical testimony that her psychiatric condition was causally related to her industrial injury.
Note: Claimant's receipt of SSD benefits alone is not sufficient to qualify him for PTD benefits.
Note: In a permanent total disability case the claimant bears the burden of demonstrating medical or vocational inability to perform even light work on an uninterrupted basis.
Note: When a claimant with qualifying dependents is incarcerated, the payments go to the dependents.
Note: the legislature intended to include temporary total disability compensation payable within the obligation for training and education and intended that this part of the obligation remain the responsibility of the employer.
Note: The burden is upon the employee to establish inability to uninterruptedly do even light work available within a 100 mile radius of the injured employee's residence due to physical limitations.
Note: Cases holding that cost-of-living increases are not to be included in calculating the offset are clearly distinguishable in that such cases discuss situations where social security disability begins after the work-related accident, and construed them as prohibiting consideration of only those cost-of-living increases occurring after the date of the industrial accident.
Note: Where a position is hired for and other employees had had their posistions similarly restructured in the past, sheltered employment does not exist.
Note: Where the medical evidence alone does not support a finding of PTD status, the JCC should examine the claimant's job search efforts to determine whether he has met his burden of proof through evidence of his job search.
Note: One who enrolls in vocational rehabilitation training pursuant to section 440.49(1) is entitled to receive temporary disability benefits despite having reached MMI from a medical standpoint, and need not use any of his or her eligibility for wage loss benefits during the training period.
Note: The 52 weeks is a cumulative limitation on the total number of weeks for which a claimant may be entitled to wage loss benefits.
Note: 440.15(3)(a)3 is not unconstitutional.
Note: When a claimant successfully settled a claim for wage loss benefits, she is precluded from later claiming that her disability was not permanent and attempting to collect further wage loss benefits.
Note: The claimant does not need to receive the information that he or she is released back to work directly from the physician.
Note: In no event shall an injured worker's benefits be reduced to a greater extent than such benefits would have been reduced under the federal offset statute, which reduces to the extent by which the federal benefits when combined with state workers' compensation benefits, exceed 80 percent of "average current earnings.
Note: Workers comp law is subject to the provisions of the ADA.
Note: Because the workers' compensation offset cannot be greater than the offset which the federal government would otherwise have taken, the federal social security benefits offset must be computed before the state offset may be determined.
Note: An inability to perform light work uninterruptedly on a continuous basis due to physical limitations is an acceptable basis for PTD and employment can be considered sheltered when the claimant is permitted to regulate his own hours to accommodate his disability.
Note: Entitlement to supplemental benefits ceases at the age in which social security retirement benefits begin.
Note: Merely having a compensable injury does not entitle one to wage loss benefits; A diminished earning capacity due to the injury must exist.
Note: Excusing a claimant from a work-search requirement does not automatically render them eligible for wage loss benefits.
Note: A variety of factors apart from an unsuccessful job search may impact the determination as to whether the claimant has shown that the industrial injury affected a diminution in earnings.
Note: Work done in another field during off-duty hours should be included for AWW calculation purposes.
Note: Undisclosed witnesses may not be used for rebuttal or impeachment purposes, and may only be allowed at the discretion of the JCC.
Note: The absence of medical evidence or findings to the effect that because of her physical limitations, the claimant was unable to do light work uninterruptedly, the claimant must establish her temporary partial disability by evidence of a good faith work search.
Note: Merely looking for work is not enough to establish actual knowledge of a statutory requirement to do a job search.
Note: Unless there is proof that the doctor told the claimant that he/she can return to work, he/she cannot be denied benefits.
Note: The combining of workers comp benefits, state pension, and social security benefits for the purpose of allowing an offset is impermissible.
Note: A claimant's attempt to show that 440.15 violates the ADA failed.
Note: The mere general knowledge of a work search requirement is not sufficient to bar wage loss.
Note: Injured workers are not a suspect class and the wage loss system need only bear a reasonable relationship to a legitimate state interest.
Note: Where a claimant fails to timely file wage loss forms due to the fact that the employer did not properly inform the claimant of this obligation, this should not preclude benefits.
Note: An offset may be taken when the claimant is receiving social security disability benefits even if the claimant started receiving social security disability benefits before the industrial accident occurred and such benefits are the result of a totally distinct physical or mental condition.
Note: Where the employee's actual knowledge becomes an issue, the employer bears the burden of proving the employee's knowledge of all statutory requirements regarding the performance of a job search.
Note: The claimant's work search responsibility is predicated upon actual notice of the requirement to perform the work search.
Note: The E/C has the burden of proving that the claimant voluntarily limited his/her income.
Note: If a claimant raises an issue of social security benefits being improperly calculated for the purpose of an offset, it is the E/Cs burden to prove that it was calculated correctly.
Note: In order to preserve issues for appeal they must be raised in the case-in-chief.
Note: The resolution of conflicting evidence is within the JCC's discretion.
Note: PTD will not be awarded if the employee is physically capable of engaging in gainful employment, and the burden is upon the employee to prove that he/she is unable to work.
Note: A claimant with a permanent impairment rating has some 'physical limitation,' and can establish his wage loss claim by demonstrating a causal connection between the physical limitation and his earnings.
Note: The substantive rights of the parties are fixed by the law in effect on the date of injury.
Note: Where a doctor acceded to a claimant's desire to go back to work, advising against is as it would not be in his best interest, the claimant is not precluded from an award of wage-loss benefits.
Note: The failure to perform a work search will preclude compensation if a search is essential to establish an inability to earn, it will not preclude compensation where an inability to earn rests, in whole or in part, on a medical prohibition.
Note: Where two or more carriers are responsible for payment of a claim and one of the carriers pays, they are entitled to reimbursement.
Note: A subsequent intervening injury can release the E/C from liability from any further treatment or indemnity benefits.
Note: Wage-loss forms and job search reports are to be mailed to the employer, carrier, or servicing agent within 14 days after the time benefits are due, but this is not the case for TPD benefits.
Note: Before an employee's right to WL benefits shall terminate as a result of confinement for DUI, a showing must be made that the imprisonment had a direct effect on "the employee's ability to perform the activities of his usual or other appropriate employment."
Note: The employer may not offset workers' compensation payments against an employee's pension benefits except to the extent that the total of the two exceeds the employee's average monthly wage.
Note: Fringe benefits claimant no longer receives shall be included in AWW.
Note: A claim that is mature at the time of an earlier proceeding will be subsequently barred by its omission from that proceeding.
Note: aggravation of a previous injury is compensable and not subject to apportionment until MMI is reached.
Note: The fact that an employee has suffered previous disability, impairment, anomaly, or disease, or received compensation therefore, shall not preclude him from benefits for a subsequent aggravation or acceleration of the pre-existing condition injury.
Note: Where a washout settlement is subject to more than one interpretation a question of fact is presented.
Note: Wage loss must be calculated following a second accident on the basis that the claimant thereafter is unable to earn any salary, wages, or other remuneration because he is temporarily and totally disabled.
Note: AWW is calculated using the claimant's wages from all qualifying jobs during the 13 weeks prior to injury.
Note: The substantive rights of the respective parties under the Workmen's Compensation Law are fixed as of the time of the injury to the employee.
Note: Excusing a claimant from the work search responsibility does not absolutely discharge this initial burden, and does not permit a compensation award unless the circumstances demonstrate the necessary causal relation and change in employment status.
Note: Only extremeties can be "amputated".
Note: The amount of compensation or rate of compensation paid to a claimant is substantive in nature.
Note: Because the payment of wage-loss benefits is contingent upon future events, the value of an unexpired term of wage-loss benefits cannot be ascertained, and cannot be used as a vehicle for reduction of an attorney's fee award.
Note: The application of procedural amendments such as burden of proof enactments is not constrained by the date of accident and injury, as there is no vested right in any given mode of procedure.
Note: A work search is not an absolute prerequisite to entitlement to wage loss benefits, but rather is an evidentiary tool by which claimant will generally demonstrate that compensable physical limitations caused his wage loss.
Note: A stipulation should not be ignored or set aside in the absence of fraud, overreaching, misrepresentation, withholding of the facts by an adversary, or some element as would render the agreement void.
Note: A stipulation should not be ignored or set aside in the absence of fraud, overreaching, misrepresentation, withholding of the facts by an adversary, or some element as would render the agreement void.
Note: Where subsequent aggrevating injuries are not compensable, they should be apportioned.
Note: Once an employer or carrier has denied compensability of an injury and failed to make timely payment of benefits, the employer and carrier may be held liable for attorney's fees.
Note: In ordinary circumstances an employee of a contractor hired to work on the owner's premises may sue the owner for negligence.
Note: The cutting of benefits by 5% upon reaching MMI in order to motivate a claimant to continue a job search was found constitutional.
Note: In an award for TPD benefits, a JCC is entitled to believe a claimant's tesimony that he/she did not receive notice from the E/C detailing a work-search requirement.
Note: A social security disability offset may be taken only prospectively.
Note: The 80/80 formula is to be used even if the claimant had no earnings.
Note: Supplemental benefits to be calculated under the Act, not as stipulated.
Note: Medical evidence, along with outside factors that depicted the claimant to be highly employable, were enough to deny PTD.
Note: The common everyday meaning of the term "amputation" does not encompass the surgical removal of a portion of a small disc.
Note: The JCC erred in awarding wage loss benefits based on claimant's unrelated demotion rather than his actual loss due to disability.
Note: There is no legal requirement that claimant is limited to either presenting medical testimony that she cannot return to work or performing an exhaustive work search before qualifying for permanent total disability benefits.
Note: The setoff provision in section 440.15(9) is self-executing in nature and therefore, can be taken unilaterally by the employer.
Note: of the amendment to section 440.15(10) effects the claimant's substantive rights and cannot be applied retroactively.
Note: FIGA is not subject to penalties and interest
Note: The sum of wage loss, temporary partial wage loss and unemployment benefits shall not exceed the amount of wage loss or temporary partial wage loss benefits.
Note: A claimant who is able to work but through a good faith work search could not find a job is eligible for TPD wage loss benefits, not TTD.
Note: The probative value and weight to be given to an expert witness is a question for the trier of fact.
Note: Medical benefits may include services to the claimant's family, such as child care, when it is necessary to facilitate the injured employee's treatment and recovery.
Note: Permanent total disability, unlike wage loss, compensates the claimant for loss of wage earning capacity rather than actual loss of income.
Note: Where a claimant moved to Costa Rica after his injury and later obtained a job at less than his pre-injury wage, a comparison in standards of living shall not be admitted absent evidence of an improper motive in moving.
Note: If a compensable permanent impairment is the result of the aggravation of a preexisting condition, benefits therefor should exclude degree of impairment existing at the time of the industrial accident.
Note: If a compensable injury occurs in Florida, it is covered by Florida workers comp law.
Note: In any case where injury and MMI/PTD fall in the same calendar year, the amount of the supplement will equal zero until January 1 of the year following MMI/PTD.
Note: The adequacy of a work search is a factual issue which is dependent upon the totality of circumstances, including quality and context as well as number of job contacts.
Note: If more than 2 years have elapsed since MMI without any benefits being payable, wage-loss benefits cannot be obtained.
Note: A scholarship given for academic excellence, not for any services rendered on the employer's behalf, shall not be included in AWW.
Note: To determine loss of wage earning capacity by comparing the average weekly wage, from which earnings from concurrent employment have been excluded, with post-recovery earning capacity, in which earnings from the same concurrent employment are included, obviously produces an unfair result.
Note: Florida Statutes, expressly conditions wage loss benefits upon the existence of a permanent impairment, but does not require medical restrictions.
Note: The deputy may not reject a claimant's testimony with the bare statement that it is not credible, when there is no support in the record for such a determination, and no adequate explanation provided for the finding.
Note: The employer must take the initiative in determining the applicability of a reduction due to Social Security benefits, and no deduction can be taken until the employer receives the worker's social security disability information from the Social Security Administration.
Note: Absent medical evidence that a claimant is totally disabled, TTD benefits may not be awarded unless claimant has conducted a sufficient work search.
Note: Deemed earnings may be an acceptable alternative method of proof where the evidence shows a voluntary limitation of income due to medical limitations and disability coupled with a residual ability to earn a certain amount per week.
Note: The fact that the claimant continues to be treated for depression does not prevent an award of PTD benefits where the PTD is based on the physical injury alone.
Note: For purposes of calculating section 440.15 Permanent Total Disability Supplement payments, the Average Weekly Wage is based on the PTD rate on date of injury, not the catastrophic TTD rate.
Note: It is the employer's obligation to notify the worker of his obligation to claim wage loss.
Note: DC's decision that the claimant had conducted a proper job search affirmed where he refused to sign the consent form which contained a provision waiving "all claims, charges or causes of action" against the employer or the testing technician "which may arise from this urinalysis test or any investigation relating to or arising out of such urinalysis testing."
Note: Claimant working full time in his own failing business is excused from his work-search requirement.
Note: DC's order affirmed where the medical and vocational evidence was sufficient to sustain the conclusion that appellee is unable to perform light work uninterruptedly, and not employable in the open labor market.
Note: A temporally separate hearing on the issue of bad faith is not necessary.
Note: When employers ask nonspecific broad questions as to physical condition on employment applications, they cannot then depend upon the Martin v. Carpenter defense to bar subsequent claims when their broad questions have not been answered untruthfully.
Note: Where two compensable injuries merge to cause total PD, rate is based upon the highest AWW he was able to earn from the employer.
Note: DC erred in ruling that claimant voluntarily limited her income by leaving her job voluntarily, since she did so because of her injury. She also cannot be said to have voluntarily limited her income for failing to document her work-search since she relied on the carrier's statement that she was no longer eligible for wage-loss benefits.
Note: Claimant not entitled to a higher determination of average weekly wage in effect at the time of the first of three industrial injuries.
Note: Once a claim is filed, it remains pending until withdrawn by claimant or acted upon by motion of either the Commission or the employer; the passage of time does not in and of itself terminate the pendency of a proceeding.
Note: For purposes of Section 440.15(3)(a)3., Florida Statutes (1999), a claim for impairment or permanent disability benefits made before a claimant has reached MMI or received 98 weeks of temporary benefits is premature.
Note: JCC cannot award TPD benefits before claimant files employee earning report.
Note: AOE/COE presumption applies to sherriffs deputies.
Note: No TPD benefits for hours in which claimant refuses suitable employment.
Note: Specific impairment rating required to determine amount of benefits.
Note: Temporary total disability benefits cannot be awarded past date of MMI.
Note: Temporary total disability benefits can't be awarded after MMI where there is no curative procedure.
Note: PTD supplemental benefits do not automatically cease when the claimant reaches age 62.
Note: award of PTD benefits is premature where the claimant has not yet reached psychiatric MMI.
Note: JCC has no authority to order claimant to submit to monthly job interviews.
Note: JCC errs in apportioning injury where employer previously accepted the condition as compensable.
Note: Impairment rating must be based on impairment schedule if applicable.
Note: Error to refuse additional TPD benefits under 440.15(6) after claimant has been terminated and no longer refuses work offered by employer.
Note: To establish PTD benefits, claimant must prove total disability due to an impairment existing after MMI.
Note: JCC has authority to compel claimant to execute a Social Security Administration Form to allow carrier to access to records.
Note: E/C can schedule and obtain a vocational evaluation.
Note: Summary judgment on borrowed servant issue inappropriate where it is unclear who controlled the employees' work.
Note: Because Claimant was working, albeit at a reduced number of hours, he did not have a disability that was total in character, and there is no competent, substantial record evidence establishing that Claimant believed he could not work.
Note: Claimant did not voluntarily leave her job and conducted a good faith job search, therefore her benefits were improperly denied
Note: Because claimant was not aware he was to return to work before the date of the merits hearing, he should have been awarded benefits through that date.
Note: Claimant's hypertension has not caused him to miss any work, thus he cannot demonstrate an incapacity resulting in actual wage-loss and cannot show disablement.
Note: The judge of compensation claims did not err in determining that Ms. Thorkelson was terminated for misconduct, within the meaning of section 440.15(4)(e).
Note: When an injured employee receives the equivalent of his full wages from whatever employer source that should be the limit of compensation to which he is entitled.
Note: There is no competent, substantial evidence which suggests the E/C intended to permanently suspend claimant's benefits. Accordingly, the only benefits counsel secured for the claimant in the proceedings below were the value of the past due PTD benefits.
Note: For the purpose of calculating wages post injury, money drawn out of a pension fund would not be included.
Note: Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal clarified that courts should interpret a statute governing permanent impairment benefits as using a graduated scale of benefits, despite a claimant's argument that it should be interpreted in a way that would entitle him to more benefits.
Note: The cost of replacing an employee's breast implant, which ruptured during a work-related incident, should not be apportioned.
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