- Workers' Compensation
Calculating Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) benefits for Georgia workers’ compensation can be complex. The process normally uses an impairment rating to determine the amount for specific injured body parts.
Workers’ compensation benefits help employees manage the financial impact of a workplace injury, covering medical expenses and a portion of lost wages. PPD, specifically, applies to cases where an employee experiences a lasting impairment.
This blog explains the key steps in calculating Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) benefits for workers’ compensation. An experienced Atlanta workers’ comp lawyer can fight for the full benefits you deserve.
What Is Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) in Workers’ Compensation?
Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) benefits are available for injured workers who have a lasting impairment that partially limits their ability to perform work-related tasks. This type of disability does not prevent the individual from working altogether, but it may hinder their capacity to perform specific job functions.
PPD vs Temporary Total Disability (TTD) and Catastrophic Injury Benefits
It’s important to distinguish PPD from other types of disability benefits. Temporary Total Disability (TTD) helps workers who are completely unable to work while recovering. TTD Benefits generally continue until you return to work, your condition improves, or you reach the 400-week limit for non-catastrophic injuries.
Your employer’s insurer generally doesn’t have to start paying PPD until your TTD or Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) benefits stop.
If your injury is designated as catastrophic, such as a severe brain or spinal cord injury, amputation, severe burns, or blindness, the 400-week cap doesn’t apply. Your income benefits can then continue for as long as you remain unable to work.
Medical Evaluation and Impairment Rating
Once you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), the point where your doctor believes your condition won’t improve much further, your authorized treating physician will assess any permanent impairment and assign a rating. The American Medical Association (AMA) provides guidelines that help doctors evaluate injuries and assign impairment ratings.
Determining the Permanent Impairment Rating
Your impairment rating is a percentage that reflects how much permanent loss of function you have in the injured body part. That percentage is the starting point for calculating PPD benefits.
For example, say you injure your knee at work. Your doctor evaluates your range of motion, stability, and strength, then assigns a 20% impairment rating to your leg. That rating determines how many weeks of PPD you receive. Because the rating directly controls the size of your benefit, even a few percentage points can make a significant difference.
Scheduled vs. Unscheduled Injuries
Georgia law assigns a set number of weeks to specific body parts. Whether your injury involves one of these body parts determines which number of weeks is used in your calculation.
Scheduled Injuries and PPD Benefits in Georgia
Scheduled injuries involve body parts listed in O.C.G.A. § 34-9-263. Each one has a maximum number of weeks of compensation. Some examples include:
- Arm or leg: 225 weeks
- Hand: 160 weeks
- Foot: 135 weeks
- Eye (loss of vision): 150 weeks
- Thumb: 60 weeks
- Index finger: 40 weeks
- Big toe: 30 weeks
Georgia calculates PPD with this formula: Impairment rating × weeks assigned to the body part × your weekly benefit rate. Your weekly benefit rate is two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to the state maximum.
Using the knee example above, a 20% rating to the leg × 225 weeks = 45 weeks of PPD benefits. If your weekly rate is $600, you would receive 45 × $600 = $27,000. If you lose a body part entirely or completely lose its use, you’re rated at 100% and receive the full number of weeks for that body part.
Unscheduled Injuries in Georgia
Some injuries, such as those to the back, neck, or internal organs, aren’t on Georgia’s list of scheduled body parts. In Georgia, these injuries are rated as an impairment to the “body as a whole,” which is assigned 300 weeks, the highest number on the schedule.
The calculation uses the same formula. For example, a 10% body-as-a-whole rating for a back injury equals 30 weeks of PPD benefits (10% × 300 weeks). Because the body as a whole carries the most weeks, back and neck injuries can result in some of the largest PPD awards. Insurers also commonly dispute their ratings.
Steps for Calculating PPD Benefits in Georgia
Calculating Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) benefits involves several key steps.
Step 1: Determine Your Average Weekly Wage (AWW).
Your average weekly wage represents your typical earnings before the injury. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-260, Georgia generally calculates it this way:
- Look at the 13 weeks before your injury. If you worked all of those 13 weeks substantially, add up your gross earnings for that period and divide by 13.
- Include overtime. Overtime you earned during those 13 weeks counts toward your AWW. Certain other benefits, such as employer-provided meals or lodging, may also count.
- If you hadn’t worked there long enough, Georgia uses the wages of a similar employee doing similar work. If no similar employee exists, it uses the full-time weekly wage you were hired at.
Insurers sometimes calculate AWW incorrectly, for example by leaving out overtime or a second job. Because every dollar of your PPD benefit depends on this number, it’s worth checking. You can ask for a copy of the wage statement your employer submitted to the insurer (Form WC-6).
Step 2: Calculate Your Weekly Benefit Rate
Your weekly benefit rate, sometimes called your compensation rate, is two-thirds of your AWW. It’s subject to a state maximum. For example: AWW of $900 → $900 × 2/3 = $600 per week.
Step 3: Get Your Impairment Rating
After you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), your authorized treating physician assigns a percentage rating to the injured body part using the AMA Guides. If you disagree with the rating, you can request one independent medical exam at the insurer’s expense.
Step 4: Find the Number of Weeks for Your Body Part
Georgia law assigns a maximum number of weeks to each body part. For example, a leg is 225 weeks, a hand is 160 weeks, and an index finger is 40 weeks. Injuries to the back, neck, and other unscheduled body parts are rated to the “body as a whole,” which is 300 weeks.
Step 5: Calculate PPD Benefits
Impairment rating × weeks for the body part = weeks of PPD benefits
Weeks of PPD benefits × weekly benefit rate = total PPD benefit
PPD benefits are typically paid weekly, not as a lump sum. They usually begin after your TTD or TPD benefits end.
Example Calculations
These examples show how the PPD calculation works for different injuries.
Example 1: Knee Injury (Scheduled)
Maria injures her knee lifting stock at a warehouse. Her AWW is $800, so her weekly benefit rate is $533.33. Her doctor assigns a 20% impairment rating to her leg.
Weeks of PPD: 20% × 225 weeks = 45 weeks
Total PPD: 45 weeks × $533.33 = $24,000
Maria would receive $533.33 per week for 45 weeks.
Example 2: Loss of a Finger (Scheduled)
James, a machine operator, loses his entire index finger in an accident. His AWW is $750, so his weekly benefit rate is $500. Because he lost the finger completely, his rating is 100%.
Weeks of PPD: 100% × 40 weeks = 40 weeks
Total PPD: 40 weeks × $500 = $20,000
Example 3: Back Injury (Unscheduled)
Derek, a delivery driver, herniates a disc in his lower back. His AWW is $1,500. Two-thirds of that is $1,000, but the state maximum limits his weekly benefit rate to $800. His doctor assigns an 8% rating to the body as a whole.
Weeks of PPD: 8% × 300 weeks = 24 weeks
Total PPD: 24 weeks × $800 = $19,200
Example 4: Injuries to More Than One Body Part
Lisa falls from a ladder and injures both her knee and her back. Her AWW is $900, so her weekly benefit rate is $600. Her doctor assigns a 15% rating to her leg and a 5% rating to the body as a whole for her back. Each body part is calculated separately:
Knee: 15% × 225 weeks = 33.75 weeks × $600 = $20,250
Back: 5% × 300 weeks = 15 weeks × $600 = $9,000
Total PPD: $20,250 + $9,000 = $29,250
Contact Our Experienced Atlanta Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
If you or a loved one is dealing with a workplace injury and needs help securing the benefits you deserve, reach out to our team at Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Atlanta. Our experienced attorneys can guide you through every step of the claims process.
Contact us for a free case consultation today!
