Permanent Partial
Disability (PPD) Benefits

Chicago Trusted Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits Attorneys

The complete or partial loss of use of a part of the body, or the partial loss of use of the body as a whole is referred to as a permanent partial disability. Though the law does not specifically define what “loss of use” means, it’s generally accepted to mean that the employee is no longer able to do things with that particular body part or with their entire body, as they were able to do before being injured.

Benefits for PPD only get paid out if the work-related injury or diseases causes a permanent loss of use of either a body part or the entire body. PPD benefits are only paid out once the employee’s condition gets to a point where it is no longer improving. An employee’s physical impairment is evaluated by the Industrial Commission to determine the physical impairment and the effect of the disability on the employee’s life.

When determining the level of physical impairment, things like the individual’s age, skill, training, occupation, and inability to participate or do certain kinds of work or activities will be taken into account, as well as their level of pain, stiffness, or limitation of motion. PPD benefits may be determined in two different ways. The first method of determining benefits depends on the body part injured and the severity of the loss. The law assigns value to each body part, expressed as the total number of weeks of compensation for each part. In the following chart, the numbers of weeks of compensation for the various body parts are listed.

In the second method, the employee may be entitled to a portion of 500 weeks compensation, which is what is given to total disability cases, commensurate to the level of partial disability.  The PPD benefit is equivalent to 60 percent of the employee’s average weekly wage before taxes (gross wage), subject to certain limits.

An employee who sustains a permanent injury or impairment of the body not listed in the chart is entitled to the percentage of 500 weeks that the partial disability bears to total disability. If the employee suffers a permanent disfigurement to a hand, their head, face, neck, arms, legs, below their knees or above their chest at the armpits as a result of an on-the-job injury, they are entitled to benefits for up to 150 weeks at the PPD percentage. Employees who are no longer able to do the same job after the work-related injury or disease are entitled to receive a wage differential, equivalent to two-thirds of the difference between his or her old salary, or what he or she earned before the injury, and his or her new salary, or the amount he or she is able to earn after the injury.