Wage continuation and percentage permanent partial impairment

A claimant must wait 26 weeks from the date of injury or last date of temporary total compensation paid before filing for a percentage of permanent partial impairment (C92) award.  However, some employers pay wage continuation in lieu of temporary total to keep claim costs down.

A question arises when a claimant files a C92 while still on wage continuation or before 26 weeks from the last payment of wages has lapsed.  Some employer counsel have argued that a claimant must wait the 26 weeks after the last wage continuation payment before filing.

This issue is resolved under Industrial Commission Policy Memo C4, Section 4. The pertinent section provides as follows:

      If the employer pays salary continuation at a rate high enough to prevent BWC from paying    temporary total disability benefits, then no benefits under ORC 4123.56 would have been paid. The injured worker would need only wait the applicable waiting period from the date of injury or date of contraction of the occupational disease to apply for permanent partial disability benefits.