WCD Revises Calculation for Gainful Employment

Oregon's Workers' Compensation Division updated its guidelines for determining whether an injured worker is entitled to continued permanent total disability benefits. State law defines gainful occupation for workers injured before Jan. 1, 2006, as any job that pays weekly wages that are less than the most recent federal poverty guidelines for a family of three, or 66.67% of the worker's average wages from the 52-week period prior to injury. For workers injured after Jan. 1, 2006, gainful employment is a job paying wages that are less than the poverty threshold or 6...