Philadelphia Workers' Compensation Wage Loss Benefits

Wage loss benefits in the state of Pennsylvania are known as indemnity benefits. The amount of wage loss benefits that a workers’ compensation claimant can receive in Philadelphia following a work injury is known as the comp rate or compensation rate. As mentioned above, the calculation of indemnity benefits is usually based on two-thirds of the average pre-injury weekly pay of the claimant. But that is not always the case.

Case and statutory law in Pennsylvania are used to define and determine how the claimant’s average weekly wage (pre-injury) is calculated, and there are both maximum and minimum benefit amounts for claimants. As an example of how benefits may exceed the two-thirds standard calculation: a worker is injured on their day job, and that injury prevents them from working their side job. In this instance, the claimant may be able to collect two-thirds of the pre-injury average wage of the combined jobs.

South Philadelphia employees who are not totally disabled or able to return to work at a lower-paying job are eligible for permanent partial disability, or PPD benefits, which are calculated based on their average weekly wage. The benefits will stop after a maximum of 500 weeks unless their status is shifted to TTD. PPD benefits are generally granted either by an agreement or as the result of a judge’s order.

When an employee qualifies for PPD benefits, the compensation rate can be tricky to calculate. Partial disability under workers’ compensation is calculated by figuring the difference between the average weekly pay of an employee before the accident/injury and after the employee’s return to work, minus one-third. In essence, the sum is equal to two-thirds of this difference. The employee cannot receive more in workers’ comp payments than they would have earned before becoming injured.

Injured employees may qualify for:

• Benefits for a specific loss: For example, benefits may be paid for a work-related loss of hearing or vision, or the loss of the use of fingers, toes, or limbs. When workers’ comp pays out a settlement for a specific loss, whether the employee resumes working and how much time the employee spent recuperating from their injuries has no bearing on the benefits.
• Benefits for disfigurement: A permanent, serious disfigurement in the neck, face, or head area can lead to the payment of disfigurement benefits of up to 275 weeks of pay. There is no formula for figuring the number of disfigurement benefits—employers/insurance carriers and claimants/their attorneys negotiate for a fair and just amount. In the absence of successful negotiations, a judge may have to determine a suitable benefit amount.
• Workers’ comp death benefits: Surviving dependents may qualify for death benefits if a claimant dies due to a work-related illness or injury or if the work-related illness or injury contributed to their death. Death benefits are capped at $3,000, as of 2021.