Types of Disability Benefits

Disability payments after a workplace accident vary, depending on the nature and extent of the injury. For example, compensation for being out of work vs a permanent disability rating in North Carolina, while related, are technically different.

“Workers’ Compensation lawyers often use short-hand terms to describe the different types of disability payments, such as TTD, TPD, PPD, and PTD. Prior to setting any claim for on-the-job injuries, we want to make sure you understanding everything.”

– Kevin Jones

In simple terms, TTD or Temporary Total Disability is 2/3rds of your gross pay. That’s what you receive if you’ve been out of work. It’s intended to cover you for lost wages, understanding you’ll be returning to the job eventually.

Those payments are considered temporary, until you can return to work. They are not considered taxable income but rather compensation for lost wages after an accident.

TPD stands for Temporary Partial Disability often refers to compensation while you’re working Light Duty with restrictions from your doctor. If you still get paid the same hourly rate or salary while on light duty, the employer is not required to pay TPP.

It’s intended to make up for any difference in your pay resulting from the inability to perform certain tasks or losses in your normal wages while on light duty. As Work Comp lawyers we often see Temporary Partial Disability when clients are working ½ days due to treatment, doctor visits, or even physical therapy.

You may also be entitled to TPP if your doctor restricts the hours a day you can work or limits the amount of time standing at your station. It also happens when your employer puts you in a lower paying position because you can’t do your regular job.

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In that instance, when there is a reduction in wages, you’re entitled to 2/3rd the difference between what you actually earned instead of your normal pay. And, once again, that difference is not considered taxable income.

Obviously, you’d still be responsible for taxes on the amount associated with earnings, other than attributed to temporary partial disability benefits.

Disability may be based on the length of time of the disability. The big difference is whether something is temporary vs permanent.

Unfortunately, there are some injuries that never fully heal. You may still be able to work, but not do as many things. If those disabilities last forever, you may be entitled to a permanent disability rating.

That type of disability is more accurately described as an impairment.

PPD stands for permanent partial disability. It’s an amount of money you may be entitled to based on a formula relating to permanent partial impairment. Impairment ratings are assigned by your physician.

Sometimes impairment ratings are set forth in percentages. For example, your treating physician may set forth something like a “25% disability rating” that affects your ability to do your job.

That percentage is thereafter plugged into a formula to determine the amount of money you may be entitled to for PPD. It’s based on your wages, prior to the workplace accident.

This is an area of law that can get a bit confusing, because lawyers use different terms to refer to the same thing such as:

• T and P – Total and Permanent Disability
• Permanent Total Disability

Normally that type of disability means you’re not going back to work, ever. It’s reserved for injuries that a permanent and totally disabling.

That type of rating used to be paid for the remainder of your life. It was called a lifetime benefit. That changed in June 2011.

It’s become more complicated, as there is a “cap” that may be extended in certain circumstances. There may also be implications with Social Security credits.

Each case is different, just like your injuries are unique to you. Given the complexity of such matters, it makes sense to seek legal advice from an experienced lawyer.

If you were injured at work in New Bern, Morehead City, Jacksonville, Greenville, or Beaufort, give Kevin Jones a call now. The Dodge Jones injury law firm provides a complementary consultation.