How Much Does Workers’ Compensation Pay in SC?

How much does workers’ compensation pay in SC, and how long will your benefits last?

If you have been injured on the job, the benefits you receive and how long they will continue  will depend on the nature of your injury, your ability to return to work and the statutory caps on benefits for various types of injuries.

Workers’ Compensation in South Carolina

The amount of your workers’ compensation benefits is based on the nature of your injury and how long it takes you to recover to the point where you can return to work, if at all. Consequently, it is very difficult to determine the final amount of a workers compensation settlement until the injured worker is released from the doctor.

What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Provide?

Workers compensation benefits generally consist of medical treatment for your work-related injuries, pay while you are kept out of work by an authorized doctor and a sum of money at the end of the case for any permanent disability you sustained.

Medical Expenses

Workers’ compensation insurance should cover all necessary and authorized medical expenses that result from your on-the-job injury, including ER visits, ambulance bills, doctor’s bills, hospital bills, medications, medical equipment, and surgeries. Mileage and out of pocket expenses are often compensible as well.

Once you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), your future medical expenses (Dodge medicals) may be included as part of your final settlement if continuing care is necessary to reduce your disability and maintain your level of functioning.

Wage Benefits

If the authorized treating doctor believes that your injuries will prevent you from returning to work immediately, then you are entitled to temporary total benefits (TTD).  TTD benefits are paid at the rate of   2/3 of your “average weekly wages.”

The average weekly wage is calculated by taking your total wages for the 52 weeks before the quarter of when your injury occurred and then dividing them by 52 (or the average of the weekly wage for the number of weeks you have worked or the average weekly wage for similar employees in the community). This ⅔ amount of your average weekly wage is called your “compensation rate” and is the amount that you should receive each week that you are unable to work due to your injuries.

There is a minimum compensation rate of $75 per week, and the maximum compensation is capped at a number that changes each year – in 2022, for example, the maximum compensation is capped at $963.37 per week.

How Long Do Workers’ Compensation Benefits Last?

The medical portion of your workers’ compensation benefits will last until your doctor finds you at maximum medical improvement (MMI).  In many instances, your physician will state that you will require medical treatment well into the future.  In that situation, medical benefits can last long after you have gone back to work and settled your case.  Moreover, your weekly temporary total disability benefits will last as long as your authorized treating doctor keeps you out of work.

If your injuries result in a permanent disability, you may receive benefits for a set number of weeks determined by the body part affected (or lifetime benefits in some cases).

Temporary Benefits

If your injuries prevent you from returning to your job right away, you should receive temporary total disability (TTD) benefits until you are cleared to return to work or until you have reached maximum medical improvement.

SC Code § 42-9-260 provides that, unless your employer is denying your claim, your temporary benefits can begin after you have been out of work for at least eight days.

• 42-9-260 also says that, within the first 150 days that you are unable to work, your employer could stop your temporary benefits if:

• You return to work for at least 15 days,
• You inform your employer that you can return to work,
• Your employer denies your claim,
• Your doctor releases you to return to work,
• Your doctor clears you for light duty, you are offered a light duty assignment, or you refuse a light duty assignment, or
• You refuse medical treatment.

After 150 days, your employer can only terminate your temporary benefits if:

• Your doctor releases you to return to work,
• Your doctor clears you for light duty, you are offered a light duty assignment, or you refuse a light duty assignment, or
• You return to work at a different job.

Once you are cleared to return to work, your temporary benefits stop, and you are finished with workers’ compensation. If your doctor returns you to work on “light duty” but your employer cannot find work that fits those restrictions, then your TTD benefits will continue. I

Permanent Benefits

Once your doctor decides that you do not need further treatment or that further treatment will not help your condition, you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). At this point, depending on your doctor’s recommendation, you might:

• Return to work if you are able and your benefits will cease,
• Return to work with restrictions and you may receive permanent benefits for a partial disability based on your impairment and disability ratings, or
• Be unable to work, in which case you may receive permanent benefits for partial or total disability based on your impairment and disability ratings.

Total or Partial Disability

Once you have reached maximum medical improvement, you will be assigned an impairment rating (the extent to which you are unable to use the affected body part) and a disability rating (the extent to which your disability prevents you from performing your job).

You may then receive permanent partial or total disability benefits in a lump-sum settlement, or your weekly benefits may continue for life depending on the severity of the disability.

Caps on Workers’ Compensation Benefits

How much does workers’ compensation pay in SC?

If you are out of work temporarily, it pays your medical expenses and a portion of your wages until you are cleared to return to work.

If you receive a permanent impairment rating which results in a disability to a particular body part, then you are entitled to an award for the amount of this disability.  SC Code Section 42-9-30 lists the number of weeks benefits can be paid for each body part, which can range from five weeks for losing half a toe to 500 weeks for the most serious injuries.

Questions about Workers’ Compensation Benefits? We’re here to help!

If you need legal help filing for social security disability, workers’ compensation, or a personal injury claim in SC, call the Law Office of Nicholas G. Callas, P.A. at 803-369-3968 or contact us through our website for a free consultation.