Citations Affected:
IC 22-3-3.
Synopsis: Disabled from trade compensation. Creates disabled from
trade compensation. Provides that an employee who: (1) has an injury
that results in a temporary total disability or a temporary partial
impairment; and (2) is capable of performing work with permanent
limitations or restrictions that prevent the employee from returning to
the position the employee held before the employee's injury may
receive compensation for the difference in average weekly earnings
lost. Limits disabled from trade compensation to 52 consecutive weeks
or 78 aggregate weeks. Provides a cap of $762 per week for disabled
from trade compensation. Makes a conforming amendment.
Effective: July 1, 2001.
January 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Labor and Employment.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning labor
and industrial safety.
carrier shall notify the worker's compensation board and the employee
in writing on a form prescribed by the worker's compensation board not
later than thirty (30) days after the employer's knowledge of the
claimed injury. If a determination of liability cannot be made within
thirty (30) days, the worker's compensation board may approve an
additional thirty (30) days upon a written request of the employer or the
employer's insurance carrier that sets forth the reasons that the
determination could not be made within thirty (30) days and states the
facts or circumstances that are necessary to determine liability within
the additional thirty (30) days. More than thirty (30) days of additional
time may be approved by the worker's compensation board upon the
filing of a petition by the employer or the employer's insurance carrier
that sets forth:
(1) the extraordinary circumstances that have precluded a
determination of liability within the initial sixty (60) days;
(2) the status of the investigation on the date the petition is filed;
(3) the facts or circumstances that are necessary to make a
determination; and
(4) a timetable for the completion of the remaining investigation.
An employer who fails to comply with this section is subject to a civil
penalty of fifty dollars ($50), to be assessed and collected by the board
upon notice and hearing. Civil penalties collected under this section
shall be deposited in the state general fund.
(c) Once begun, temporary total disability benefits may not be
terminated by the employer unless:
(1) the employee has returned to any employment;
(2) the employee has died;
(3) the employee has refused to undergo a medical examination
under section 6 of this chapter or has refused to accept suitable
employment under section 11 of this chapter;
(4) the employee has received five hundred (500) weeks of
temporary total disability benefits or has been paid the maximum
compensation allowed under section 22 of this chapter; or
(5) the employee is unable or unavailable to work for reasons
unrelated to the compensable injury; or
(6) the employee returns to work with limitations or
restrictions, and the employer converts temporary total
disability or temporary partial disability compensation into
disabled from trade compensation under section 33 of this
chapter.
In all other cases the employer must notify the employee in writing of
the employer's intent to terminate the payment of temporary total
disability benefits and of the availability of employment, if any, on a
form approved by the board. If the employee disagrees with the
proposed termination, the employee must give written notice of
disagreement to the board and the employer within seven (7) days after
receipt of the notice of intent to terminate benefits. If the board and
employer do not receive a notice of disagreement under this section,
the employee's temporary total disability benefits shall be terminated.
Upon receipt of the notice of disagreement, the board shall immediately
contact the parties, which may be by telephone or other means, and
attempt to resolve the disagreement. If the board is unable to resolve
the disagreement within ten (10) days of receipt of the notice of
disagreement, the board shall immediately arrange for an evaluation of
the employee by an independent medical examiner. The independent
medical examiner shall be selected by mutual agreement of the parties
or, if the parties are unable to agree, appointed by the board under
IC 22-3-4-11.
If the independent medical examiner determines that the
employee is no longer temporarily disabled or is still temporarily
disabled but can return to employment that the employer has made
available to the employee, or if the employee fails or refuses to appear
for examination by the independent medical examiner, temporary total
disability benefits may be terminated. If either party disagrees with the
opinion of the independent medical examiner, the party shall apply to
the board for a hearing under
IC 22-3-4-5.
(d) An employer is not required to continue the payment of
temporary total disability benefits for more than fourteen (14) days
after the employer's proposed termination date unless the independent
medical examiner determines that the employee is temporarily disabled
and unable to return to any employment that the employer has made
available to the employee.
(e) If it is determined that as a result of this section temporary total
disability benefits were overpaid, the overpayment shall be deducted
from any benefits due the employee under section 10 of this chapter
and, if there are no benefits due the employee or the benefits due the
employee do not equal the amount of the overpayment, the employee
shall be responsible for paying any overpayment which cannot be
deducted from benefits due the employee.
or restrictions that prevent the employee from returning to
the position the employee held before the employee's injury;
the employee may receive disabled from trade compensation.
(b) An employee may receive disabled from trade compensation
for a period not to exceed:
(1) fifty-two (52) consecutive weeks; or
(2) seventy-eight (78) aggregate weeks.
(c) An employee is entitled to receive disabled from trade
compensation in a weekly amount equal to STEP FOUR of the
following formula:
STEP ONE: Determine the employee's average weekly
earnings from employment with limitations or restrictions
that is entered after the employee's injury, if any.
STEP TWO: Determine the employee's average weekly
earnings from employment before the employee's injury.
STEP THREE: Determine the greater of:
(A) the STEP TWO result minus the STEP ONE result; or
(B) zero (0).
STEP FOUR: Determine the lesser of:
(A) the STEP THREE result; or
(B) seven hundred sixty-two dollars ($762).
(d) Not later than sixty (60) days after the employee's release to
return to work with restrictions or limitations, the employee must
receive notice from the employer on a form provided by the board
that informs the employee that the employee has been released to
work with limitations or restrictions. The notice must include:
(1) an explanation of the limitations or restrictions placed on
the employee;
(2) the amount of disabled from trade compensation the
employee has been awarded; and
(3) information for the employee regarding the terms of this
section.
(e) Disabled from trade compensation is in addition to any other
compensation awarded to an employee as a result of a temporary
total disability or a permanent partial impairment.
(f) An employer may unilaterally convert an award of
compensation for a temporary total disability or a temporary
partial disability into disabled from trade compensation by filing
a copy of the notice required under subsection (d) with the board.