2024 Illinois Workers’ Compensation Settlement Chart

If you are hurt on the job and cannot immediately return to work, you may be entitled to disability benefits. No matter the type of disability benefits, each is subject to a maximum and minimum weekly benefit. These weekly benefits are, in turn, tied to a figure known as the Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW).

The maximum and minimum amounts are as follows:

Type of Impairment	Start Date of Rate	End Date of Rate	Minimum Weekly Benefit	Maximum Weekly Benefit
SAWW	1/15/2024	7/14/2024	N/A	$1,423.44
Death, PTD, PPD due to Amputation or Loss of Eye	1/15/2024	7/14/2024	$711.72	$1,897.92
TTD	7/15/2023	1/14/2024	$373.33 to $560.00	$1,861.18
PPD not due to Amputation	7/1/2023	6/30/2024	$373.33 to $560.00	$1,024.87

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This information is typically updated every six months, and new minimums and maximums are published at that time. Although the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission puts forth the information contained in the table, benefits are calculated according to the statute. The table above reflects the information published by the Commission, which strives for accuracy in its information.

Components To Illinois Workers’ Compensation

There are two components to a workers’ compensation claim award. First, you are entitled to receive compensation for your medical bills and expenses incurred in treating your workplace injury. This continues until you have reached your maximum medical improvement. Your maximum medical improvement is the point at which further medical treatment would not improve your condition.

For example, suppose that you injure your back and must undergo physical therapy. Before your injury, you could lift 100 pounds, but after your injury, you can only lift 20 pounds. You go to therapy, and after several months, the maximum amount of weight you are able to carry is 50 pounds and the medical determination is made that this is the most you will recover. This is the point of your maximum medical improvement.

In the example above, you would be able to have your physical therapy sessions compensated up to the point you reached your maximum medical improvement. You would be responsible for paying for sessions beyond this point.

Some injuries not only require that you obtain medical care but also that you take leave from your regular job duties to recover. This means not being able to earn your full wage. You are also entitled to benefits for this loss, and the specific benefit depends on how severely you have been hurt. There are five general types of disability benefits:

• Temporary Total Disability (TTD)
• Temporary Partial Disability (TPD)
• Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)
• Permanent Total Disability (PTD)
• Disfigurement

In general, you can receive the applicable benefit for life or until the temporary disability is resolved and you are able to return to work. These benefits can be paid weekly, although some workers opt to reach a workers’ comp settlement and receive their benefits in one lump sum.

The specific rules applicable to each of these benefits are as follows:

Temporary Total Disability

Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits are awarded in situations where an accident leaves you with an injury that prevents you from returning to work on a temporary basis. Your benefit is calculated by multiplying your average weekly wage by two-thirds. For example, if your average weekly wage is $500, your TTD benefit would be approximately $333.

Your TTD benefits last until you reach the point of maximum medical improvement or return to work. However, if you are off work for fewer than 14 days, you are not paid any TTD benefits for the first three days of that 14-day period.

Temporary Partial Disability

Perhaps your workplace injury limits your ability to work, but your employer can accommodate you in a less demanding role. This temporary reassignment comes with a reduction in pay due to the lighter duties and demands. Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) benefits would be available to you.

The TPD benefits you receive will be calculated by looking at the difference in average weekly wages between your previous job and your new temporary position. That difference is then multiplied by two-thirds to arrive at your TPD benefit. This benefit would continue until you reach maximum medical improvement or return to work.

For example, suppose your pre-injury average weekly wage was $500 per week. After your injury, your employer gives you a temporary reassignment to a role that pays $225 per week. The difference between your previous role and your current role is $275. Your TPD benefit would be approximately $183.

Permanent Total Disability

Your doctor may determine that even after reaching your maximum medical improvement, you are completely unable to return to work. Or you may have lost the use of several body parts, such as both eyes or arms. In this case, you would be considered permanently and totally disabled and entitled to permanent total disability benefits.

If you receive PTD benefits, they are calculated at a rate of two-thirds of your average weekly wages. Again, suppose that you were making $500 per week on average before your workplace injury. Your PTD benefit would be approximately $333. This benefit would last the remainder of your life.

Permanent Partial Disability

Permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits are applicable when you lose a limb or eye or suffer some impairment to a body part that remains even after you reach maximum medical improvement. However, you are still able to return to work. The amount of PPD benefits you receive is calculated based on the body part affected and how severe the loss of the use of the limb is.

The formula used to calculate these benefits for a partial permanent disability takes your average weekly salary and multiplies that amount by 60%. Then, that resulting figure is multiplied by the percentage of loss for each body part affected by your workplace injury. You are entitled to receive this benefit up to the maximum amount of weeks allowed by law.

For example, suppose that you injured your foot and lost 70% of your functioning. You also injured your leg and lost 20% of your functioning. You return to work and are able to earn $500 per week. Your benefit would be ($300 x .70) + ($300 x .20) = $270 per week until you reach the maximum number of weeks you can claim benefits.

There are other ways to calculate benefits for a permanent partial disability. Another one of these methods is using the wage differential method. This looks at your previous average wage and your new wage after your injury. Where there is a significant difference between the two, seeking wage differential benefits may make more sense.

Suppose that you return to work at a lower-paying position. You could be entitled to a wage differential award to compensate you for the reduction in your income.

This award is calculated by taking the difference between your average weekly wage and your average weekly wage at your new position and multiplying this by two thirds. If you were earning $500 per week but are not only earning $250 per week, you could be entitled to a wage differential award of approximately $165 per week.

Now, suppose that you were making $1,000 per week, and you injured your foot, resulting in a 50% loss of functioning. Using the traditional method for calculating PPD benefits, you would first multiply $1,000 by 60% and receive a result of $600. This would then be multiplied by 50%, resulting in a benefit of $300.

However, if you use the wage differential method because you are earning $200 per week, your benefit would be ($1,000 – $200) x .667 = $533.60.

Note that you cannot receive both the PPD benefit as well as the wage differential benefit at the same time. You must select one or the other.

Disfigurement

Disfigurement is the term used to describe scarring, and it, too, can result in workers’ compensation benefits. In order to be compensable, the scarring must be present on certain visible areas of your body, such as your legs below the knee, arms, or face. The maximum benefit you can receive is 60% of your average weekly wage for up to 162 weeks.

For instance, suppose again your average weekly wage is $500, and you sustain severe scarring to your face, hands, and neck in a workplace fire. In this case, 60% of your average weekly wage is $300. Therefore, the maximum benefit you could receive for your scarring is $300 x 162 = $48,600.

Sometimes, an injury results in both the scarring of a body part and the partial or full loss of use of that body part. Illinois workers’ compensation law allows you to pursue disability and disfigurement benefits for a single body part, but not simultaneously. You would have to choose which type of benefit to receive.

For example, if you sustained cuts to your leg in a machinery accident, and as a result, you have scarring and a partial loss of use of that leg. You could elect to receive PPD benefits or disfigurement benefits. However, you are not entitled to receive both.

Death Benefits

The spouses or other surviving beneficiaries of a worker killed on the job are entitled to death benefits. These are payable for up to 25 years or up to a maximum of $500,000, whichever is the greater figure.

Weekly Benefits Versus Lump Sum Settlement

When you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits and reach a workers’ comp settlement, you can choose whether to receive your benefits on a weekly basis or as a lump sum settlement. In either case, workers’ compensation benefits are not taxable under Illinois law.

The amounts below serve to show the maximum amount of workers’ comp benefits you can reasonably expect for permanent partial disability and for how long you can receive them due to an injury of certain body parts.

The actual amount you would receive would depend on how limited you are in using the body part following your injury and after reaching maximum medical improvement.

Body Part	Maximum Compensation	Maximum Number of Weeks
Arm	$439,858	253
Leg	$403,090	215
Hand	$279,167	205
Thumb	$103,496	76
Index Finger	$58,557	43
Middle Finger	$51,748	38
Ring Finger	$38,768	27
Pinky Finger	$29,959	22
Foot	$227,419	167
Big Toe	$51,748	38
Eye	$235,590	162
Ear	$39,710	162

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Injuries to other body parts are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and after considering your doctor’s reports and evaluation.

The workers’ compensation system in Illinois operates to provide injured workers with financial benefits for their on the job injuries. In doing so, it does away with the availability of damages through a traditional personal injury lawsuit. This has both advantages and disadvantages.

In a traditional personal injury lawsuit, you are entitled to financial compensation for your injuries only if you can prove that another person caused your injuries through a negligent or careless act. If you are the primary cause of the accident, you are precluded from obtaining any compensation at all.

The financial damages you could obtain through an Illinois personal injury lawsuit include compensation for your lost wages, medical expenses and mental pain and suffering. Other types of damages could be available, depending on the facts of your personal injury case.

However, injured workers filing a workers’ comp claim do not need to prove anyone was at fault to be eligible for benefits. In fact, you could even be responsible for your accident and still recover workers’ comp benefits, as long as it happened at work.

However, workers in Illinois are generally prevented from filing a personal injury lawsuit against their employers for injuries sustained on the job.

Instead, they file a workers’ compensation claim and receive benefits for certain types of losses. For example, injured workers cannot obtain compensation for mental pain and suffering through a workers’ comp settlement.

These settlement charts show you the benefits you can reasonably expect to receive for your workplace injuries. They can help dispel unrealistic expectations you may have about your claim and assist you in deciding upon the amount you should settle your claim for.

Workers’ compensation benefits and the procedure for obtaining them in Illinois are governed by Illinois law. This can give injured workers the impression that obtaining a fair settlement amount for their workers’ comp claim is easy. This is a false impression, as numerous objective and subjective considerations go into your workers’ comp settlement amount.

For example, when you seek PPD benefits, the amount of benefits you receive will largely depend on the percentage of loss of functioning that the Commission determines you experience. If the Commission believes your percentage loss is only 30%, but medical evidence suggests it is 60% or 70%, you could lose out on a significant amount of money.

Similarly, your average weekly wage is a figure that you must prove. Certain income, such as income from a second job, can be included in your calculation. Other types of income, such as overtime, cannot included.

Failing to properly calculate and prove your average weekly wage can mean hundreds of dollars of lost weekly benefits.

Obtaining the help of an experienced and skilled workers’ comp lawyer in Illinois can be a valuable investment. Not only can your attorney help inform you how Illinois laws impact your case, but they can also direct you to the medical care and services you need.

When you file a workers’ compensation claim, the claim is set before an arbitrator who is approved to arbitrate workers’ compensation claims. Your claim will come before the arbitrator approximately every three months for a review and to determine whether more time is needed to reach a workers’ comp settlement. This process can continue so long as the arbitrator allows.

You can obtain a workers’ comp settlement in Illinois without the assistance of an attorney. However, having an attorney guide you through filing and settling your claim can significantly impact the benefits you receive. When recovering from a workplace injury, you need access to all the benefits you can get.

Your attorney can also help you decide when a workers’ comp settlement is no longer a possibility and you should proceed with a trial. Your lawyer will also be able to help you present evidence to the arbitrator in a persuasive manner.