Disability While You're Still Working
You can be back at work and still have disability under Texas workers' comp law. If your injury is costing you part of your paycheck, benefits may still be owed. This page explains how.
Working and disabled are not opposites
Many workers assume that the day they return to work, their claim's income benefits are finished. That assumption gives money away. In Texas workers' comp, disability does not mean you are off work. It means your compensable injury keeps you from earning your full pre-injury wage. A worker on light duty at reduced pay has disability. A worker whose restricted hours cut the paycheck in half has disability. What matters is the gap between what you earned before the injury and what you can earn now, and whether the injury caused it.
The comparison point is your average weekly wage, called the AWW, the measure of your pre-injury earnings that every income benefit is calculated from (Average Weekly Wage in Texas Workers' Compensation Claims explains how it is set). If your injury has you earning less than that number, the disability question is still alive.
Can I get benefits if I'm working reduced hours?
Yes, if the reduced hours are because of your injury and your earnings are below your pre-injury average weekly wage. The carrier owes reduced weekly checks, called partial temporary income benefits, that replace a percentage of the difference between what you earned before and what you are earning now. Working does not disqualify you; earning less because of the injury is exactly what these checks exist for.
Two conditions apply. You must not yet have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), the point where a doctor certifies your condition has improved as much as it is going to. And the shortfall must come from the injury, not from a schedule change that would have happened anyway. The arithmetic, with worked examples, is at Partial Temporary Income Benefits Based on Disability.
Situations that count, and one that does not
- Light duty at lower pay. Your restrictions put you in a different job at a lower rate. The wage gap is disability. See Returning to Work at Reduced Wages.
- Same job, fewer hours. Your doctor limits you to part-time hours on the work status report, form DWC073. The lost hours are disability.
- Same pay, working in pain. If you are earning your full pre-injury wage, you do not have disability, no matter how much the work hurts. Your medical benefits continue, and the claim still matters, as Work Injuries That Do Not Result in Disability explains. If the pain means you cannot actually keep the job, tell your doctor and get the restrictions in writing before your earnings collapse, not after.
- Full salary from your employer. Some employers keep injured workers at full pay during recovery. If so, the carrier sends notice PLN-06 and no income checks are owed while that lasts. If the salary stops, disability benefits can begin.
Protect the record while you work
Partial benefits are calculated from your actual earnings, so your proof is your pay records. Keep every pay stub from the day of injury forward. Make sure each new work status report reaches both your employer and the adjuster, because the DWC073 is what documents that your reduced earnings are medical, not voluntary. If your checks do not adjust when your wages drop, send the adjuster your pay stubs in writing and ask for the correction. How Returning to Work Affects Your Benefits covers the wider picture, including what happens if the light-duty job ends.
Attorney notes regarding income benefits
Income benefits can become one of the most confusing parts of a Texas workers’ compensation claim. Even when the insurance carrier is sending checks, that does not necessarily mean the right benefits are being paid, in the right amount, or for the right length of time.
A few warning signs deserve attention:
- Your checks suddenly stop or decrease: There should be a reason, and that reason may be disputed.
- Your wages look wrong: An incorrect Average Weekly Wage can affect the amount of benefits you receive.
- You return to work for less money: You may still have rights to income benefits in some situations.
- Your impairment rating seems too low: A lower rating can mean fewer weeks of Impairment Income Benefits.
- You receive a denial: Eligibility for SIBs, LIBs, or other income benefits can involve detailed rules that are easy to misunderstand.
- The carrier claims it overpaid you: Do not assume that a demand for repayment is automatically correct.
At Abbott, Clay & Bedoy, we review benefit payments, wage calculations, medical evidence, work status, impairment ratings, and carrier decisions to determine whether our clients are receiving the income benefits Texas law provides.
Workers’ compensation checks can affect your ability to pay the mortgage, buy groceries, and support your family while you recover. Getting the amount wrong matters.
Get legal help