SB 409

This bill makes various changes to the worker's compensation law, as

administered by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

Payment of benefits

Maximum weekly compensation for permanent partial disability.

Under current law, permanent partial disability benefits are subject to maximum

weekly compensation rates specified by statute. Currently, the maximum weekly

compensation rate for permanent partial disability is $302. This bill increases that

maximum weekly compensation rate to $312 for injuries occurring before January

1, 2013, and to $322 for injuries occurring on or after that date.

Vocational rehabilitation.

Under current law, an injured employee is

entitled to receive compensation for temporary disability while the employee is

receiving vocational rehabilitation services under the federal Rehabilitation Act of

1973. If, however, the injury causes only partial disability, the employee's weekly

indemnity is the proportion of the weekly indemnity rate for total disability that the

actual wage loss of the injured employee bears to the injured employee's average

weekly wage at the time of injury.

This bill provides that compensation for temporary disability on account of

receiving vocational rehabilitation services shall not be reduced on account of any

wages earned for the first 24 hours worked by an employee during a week in which

the employee is receiving those services, but that if an employee performs more than

24 hours of work during a week in which the employee is receiving those services, all

wages earned for hours worked in excess of 24 during that week shall be offset

against the employee's average weekly wage in calculating compensation for

temporary disability. This provision, however, does not apply after the last day of the

24th month beginning after publication of the bill.

Under current law, an injured employee who is receiving vocational

rehabilitation services is entitled to payment for the expense of travel to receive those

services and, if the employee receives those services elsewhere than his or her place

of residence, payment for the expense of maintenance during his or her

rehabilitation.

This bill provides that an injured employee who is receiving vocational

rehabilitation services is entitled to payment for the cost of tuition, fees, and books

required for the employee's vocational rehabilitation program.

Disfigurement benefits.

Under current law, DWD may allow compensation

for a permanent disfigurement that occasions potential wage loss, except that if an

employee who claims compensation for permanent disfigurement returns to work for

his or her employer at the time of the injury at the same or a higher wage, DWD may

not allow that compensation unless the employee shows that he or she probably has