(1) When
the total disability is only temporary, the schedule of payments
contained in RCW 51.32.060 (1) and (2) shall apply, so long as
the total disability continues.
(2) Any compensation payable under this section for children
not in the custody of the injured worker as of the date of injury
shall be payable only to such person as actually is providing the
support for such child or children pursuant to the order of a
court of record providing for support of such child or children.
(3)(a) As soon as recovery is so complete that the present
earning power of the worker, at any kind of work, is restored to
that existing at the time of the occurrence of the injury, the
payments shall cease. If and so long as the present earning
power is only partially restored, the payments shall:
(i) For claims for injuries that occurred before May 7,
1993, continue in the proportion which the new earning power
shall bear to the old; or
(ii) For claims for injuries occurring on or after May 7,
1993, equal eighty percent of the actual difference between the
worker's present wages and earning power at the time of injury,
but: (A) The total of these payments and the worker's present
wages may not exceed one hundred fifty percent of the average
monthly wage in the state as computed under RCW 51.08.018; (B)
the payments may not exceed one hundred percent of the
entitlement as computed under subsection (1) of this section; and
(C) the payments may not be less than the worker would have
received if (a)(i) of this subsection had been applicable to the
worker's claim.
(b) No compensation shall be payable under this subsection
(3) unless the loss of earning power shall exceed five percent.
(c) The prior closure of the claim or the receipt of
permanent partial disability benefits shall not affect the rate
at which loss of earning power benefits are calculated upon
reopening the claim.
(4)(a) The legislature finds that long-term disability and
the cost of injuries is significantly reduced when injured
workers remain at work following their injury. To encourage
employers at the time of injury to provide light duty or
transitional work for their workers, wage subsidies and other
incentives are made available to employers insured with the
department.
(b) Whenever the employer of injury requests that a worker
who is entitled to temporary total disability under this chapter
be certified by a physician or licensed advanced registered nurse
practitioner as able to perform available work other than his or
her usual work, the employer shall furnish to the physician or
licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner, with a copy to
the worker, a statement describing the work available with the
employer of injury in terms that will enable the physician or
licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner to relate the
physical activities of the job to the worker's disability. The
physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner
shall then determine whether the worker is physically able to
perform the work described. The worker's temporary total
disability payments shall continue until the worker is released
by his or her physician or licensed advanced registered nurse
practitioner for the work, and begins the work with the employer
of injury. If the work thereafter comes to an end before the
worker's recovery is sufficient in the judgment of his or her
physician or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner to
permit him or her to return to his or her usual job, or to
perform other available work offered by the employer of injury,
the worker's temporary total disability payments shall be
resumed. Should the available work described, once undertaken by
the worker, impede his or her recovery to the extent that in the
judgment of his or her physician or licensed advanced registered
nurse practitioner he or she should not continue to work, the
worker's temporary total disability payments shall be resumed
when the worker ceases such work.
(c) To further encourage employers to maintain the
employment of their injured workers, an employer insured with the
department and that offers work to a worker pursuant to this
subsection (4) shall be eligible for reimbursement of the injured
worker's wages for light duty or transitional work equal to fifty
percent of the basic, gross wages paid for that work, for a
maximum of sixty-six work days within a consecutive twenty-four
month period. In no event may the wage subsidies paid to an
employer on a claim exceed ten thousand dollars. Wage subsidies
shall be calculated using the worker's basic hourly wages or
basic salary, and no subsidy shall be paid for any other form of
compensation or payment to the worker such as tips, commissions,
bonuses, board, housing, fuel, health care, dental care, vision
care, per diem, reimbursements for work-related expenses, or any
other payments. An employer may not, under any circumstances,
receive a wage subsidy for a day in which the worker did not
actually perform any work, regardless of whether or not the
employer paid the worker wages for that day.
(d) If an employer insured with the department offers a
worker work pursuant to this subsection (4) and the worker must
be provided with training or instruction to be qualified to
perform the offered work, the employer shall be eligible for a
reimbursement from the department for any tuition, books, fees,
and materials required for that training or instruction, up to a
maximum of one thousand dollars. Reimbursing an employer for the
costs of such training or instruction does not constitute a
determination by the department that the worker is eligible for
vocational services authorized by RCW 51.32.095 and 51.32.099.
(e) If an employer insured with the department offers a
worker work pursuant to this subsection (4), and the employer
provides the worker with clothing that is necessary to allow the
worker to perform the offered work, the employer shall be
eligible for reimbursement for such clothing from the department,
up to a maximum of four hundred dollars. However, an employer
shall not receive reimbursement for any clothing it provided to
the worker that it normally provides to its workers. The
clothing purchased for the worker shall become the worker's
property once the work comes to an end.
(f) If an employer insured with the department offers a
worker work pursuant to this subsection (4) and the worker must
be provided with tools or equipment to perform the offered work,
the employer shall be eligible for a reimbursement from the
department for such tools and equipment and related costs as
determined by department rule, up to a maximum of two thousand
five hundred dollars. An employer shall not be reimbursed for
any tools or equipment purchased prior to offering the work to
the worker pursuant to this subsection (4). An employer shall
not be reimbursed for any tools or equipment that it normally
provides to its workers. The tools and equipment shall be the
property of the employer.
(g) An employer may offer work to a worker pursuant to this
subsection (4) more than once, but in no event may the employer
receive wage subsidies for more than sixty-six days of work in a
consecutive twenty-four month period under one claim. An
employer may continue to offer work pursuant to this subsection
(4) after the worker has performed sixty-six days of work, but
the employer shall not be eligible to receive wage subsidies for
such work.
(h) An employer shall not receive any wage subsidies or
reimbursement of any expenses pursuant to this subsection (4)
unless the employer has completed and submitted the reimbursement
request on forms developed by the department, along with all
related information required by department rules. No wage
subsidy or reimbursement shall be paid to an employer who fails
to submit a form for such payment within one year of the date the
work was performed. In no event shall an employer receive wage
subsidy payments or reimbursements of any expenses pursuant to
this subsection (4) unless the worker's physician or licensed
advanced registered nurse practitioner has restricted him or her
from performing his or her usual work and the worker's physician
or licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner has released
him or her to perform the work offered.
(i) Payments made under (b) through (g) of this subsection
are subject to penalties under RCW 51.32.240(5) in cases where
the funds were obtained through willful misrepresentation.
(j) Once the worker returns to work under the terms of this
subsection (4), he or she shall not be assigned by the employer
to work other than the available work described without the
worker's written consent, or without prior review and approval by
the worker's physician or licensed advanced registered nurse
practitioner. An employer who directs a claimant to perform work
other than that approved by the attending physician and without
the approval of the worker's physician or licensed advanced
registered nurse practitioner shall not receive any wage subsidy
or other reimbursements for such work.
(k) If the worker returns to work under this subsection (4),
any employee health and welfare benefits that the worker was
receiving at the time of injury shall continue or be resumed at
the level provided at the time of injury. Such benefits shall
not be continued or resumed if to do so is inconsistent with the
terms of the benefit program, or with the terms of the collective
bargaining agreement currently in force.
(l) In the event of any dispute as to the validity of the
work offered or as to the worker's ability to perform the
available work offered by the employer, the department shall make
the final determination pursuant to an order that contains the
notice required by RCW 51.52.060 and that is subject to appeal
subject to RCW 51.52.050.
(5) An employer's experience rating shall not be affected by
the employer's request for or receipt of wage subsidies.
(6) The department shall create a Washington stay-at-work
account which shall be funded by assessments of employers insured
through the state fund for the costs of the payments authorized
by subsection (4) of this section and for the cost of creating a
reserve for anticipated liabilities. Employers may collect up to
one-half the fund assessment from workers.
(7) No worker shall receive compensation for or during the
day on which injury was received or the three days following the
same, unless his or her disability shall continue for a period of
fourteen consecutive calendar days from date of injury:
PROVIDED, That attempts to return to work in the first fourteen
days following the injury shall not serve to break the continuity
of the period of disability if the disability continues fourteen
days after the injury occurs.
(8) Should a worker suffer a temporary total disability and
should his or her employer at the time of the injury continue to
pay him or her the wages which he or she was earning at the time
of such injury, such injured worker shall not receive any payment
provided in subsection (1) of this section during the period his
or her employer shall so pay such wages: PROVIDED, That holiday
pay, vacation pay, sick leave, or other similar benefits shall
not be deemed to be payments by the employer for the purposes of
this subsection.
(9) In no event shall the monthly payments provided in this
section:
(a) Exceed the applicable percentage of the average monthly
wage in the state as computed under the provisions of RCW 51.08.018 as follows:
| AFTER |
PERCENTAGE |
||
| June 30, 1993 | 105% | ||
| June 30, 1994 | 110% | ||
| June 30, 1995 | 115% | ||
| June 30, 1996 | 120% |
[2011 1st sp.s. c 37 § 101. Prior: 2007 c 284 § 3; 2007 c 190 § 1; 2004 c 65 § 9; prior: 1993 c 521 § 3; 1993 c 299 § 1; 1993 c 271 § 1; 1988 c 161 § 4; prior: 1988 c 161 § 3; 1986 c 59 § 3; (1986 c 59 § 2 expired June 30, 1989); prior: 1985 c 462 § 6; 1980 c 129 § 1; 1977 ex.s. c 350 § 47; 1975 1st ex.s. c 235 § 1; 1972 ex.s. c 43 § 22; 1971 ex.s. c 289 § 11; 1965 ex.s. c 122 § 3; 1961 c 274 § 4; 1961 c 23 §51.32.090 ; prior: 1957 c 70 § 33; 1955 c 74 § 8; prior: 1951 c 115 § 3; 1949 c 219 § 1, part; 1947 c 246 § 1, part; 1929 c 132 § 2, part; 1927 c 310 § 4, part; 1923 c 136 § 2, part; 1919 c 131 § 4, part; 1917 c 28 § 1, part; 1913 c 148 § 1, part; 1911 c 74 § 5, part; Rem. Supp. 1949 § 7679, part.]
NOTES:
Finding -- 2011 1st sp.s. c 37: "The legislature finds that Washington state's workers' compensation system should be designed to focus on achieving the best outcomes for injured workers. The state must ensure that the workers' compensation system remains financially healthy in order to provide needed resources for injured workers. Further, the legislature recognizes that reducing the number and cost of long-term disability and pension claims, while strengthening safety programs; addressing workers' compensation system fraud by employers, workers, and providers; finding ways to improve claims management processes; studying occupational disease claims in the workers' compensation system; and establishing a fund for purposes of maintaining low, stable, and predictable premium rate increases are all key to ensuring productive worker outcomes and a financially sound system for Washington workers and employers." [2011 1st sp.s. c 37 § 1.]
Effective date -- 2011 1st sp.s. c 37: "This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately [June 15, 2011]." [2011 1st sp.s. c 37 § 1101.]
Effective date -- 2007 c 284: See note following RCW 51.32.050.
Report to legislature -- Effective date -- Severability -- 2004 c 65: See notes following RCW 51.04.030.
Effective date -- 1993 c 521: See note following RCW 51.32.050.
Effective date -- 1993 c 299: "This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1993." [1993 c 299 § 2.]
Effective date -- 1993 c 271: "This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately [May 7, 1993]." [1993 c 271 § 2.]
Benefit increases -- Application to certain retrospective rating agreements -- Effective dates -- 1988 c 161: See notes following RCW 51.32.050.
Expiration date -- 1986 c 59 § 2; Effective dates -- 1986 c 59 §§ 3, 5: "Section 2 of this act shall expire on June 30, 1989. Section 3 of this act shall take effect on June 30, 1989. Section 5 of this act shall take effect on July 1, 1986." [1986 c 59 § 6.]
Program and fiscal review -- 1985 c 462: See note following RCW 41.04.500.