Income Benefits

Workers injured while performing their normal job requirements and who are unable to work temporarily or permanently may be entitled to income benefits, in addition to paid medical care and death benefits.

Income benefits may be used by the worker to replace a portion of any wages that an employee loses due to a work-related injury or illness. Work compensation income benefits can vary by state, but generally they are approximately two-thirds of an employee's income prior to the work injury.

Types of income benefits offered by Workers' Compensation

In the state of Texas, income benefits include temporary income benefits (TIBs); impairment income benefits (IIBs); supplemental income benefits (SIBs); and lifetime income benefits (LIBs).

The state of California offers similar benefits: temporary disability payments to compensate workers for lost wages while they are recovering and cannot work, permanent disability benefits, which pays the employee if they do not recover fully, and supplemental security job displacement benefits, which gives workers vouchers to help them retrain for new work if they are not able to return to their previous job.

Workers who receive temporary disability income benefits in California will not begin receiving payment until they are unable to work for at least three days. Although this waiting period varies by state, most states have some type of waiting period. Payments can be made every week or every two weeks (based on state work comp laws) and benefits stop as soon as the doctor releases the worker to return to work.

The length of time you will be eligible to receive income benefits varies by state. For instance, injured California workers can now receive TD payments up to 104 weeks within a period of 5 years from the date of their injury. Federal, state, and local income tax is not paid on temporary disability payments.