Partial Temporary Income Benefits Based on Disability
When you are back at work but earning less because of your injury, Texas workers' comp pays reduced weekly checks called partial TIBs. This page shows how they are calculated and how to keep them accurate.
A benefit for the gap, not the whole paycheck
If your hours have ever been cut at a job, you know the problem this benefit answers: you are working, but the paycheck no longer covers what it used to. Partial temporary income benefits exist for exactly that situation in a workers' comp claim. Temporary income benefits (TIBs), the weekly checks that replace lost wages while you recover, do not stop the day you go back to work. If you return at reduced hours or reduced pay because of your injury, the checks continue in a smaller amount, covering part of the gap between your old earnings and your new ones.
The two eligibility conditions are the same as for any TIBs. You must have disability, meaning the injury keeps you from earning your pre-injury average weekly wage. And you must not yet have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), the point where a doctor certifies your recovery has leveled off. Working reduced hours satisfies the first condition; it does not end it. Disability While You're Still Working explains that point fully.
How are partial TIBs calculated?
Partial TIBs pay a percentage, generally 70 percent, of the difference between your average weekly wage and what you actually earn each week. Your average weekly wage, called the AWW, is the measure of your pre-injury earnings that the whole calculation rests on. The carrier subtracts your current week's earnings from the AWW, then pays 70 percent of what is left.
Run once with real numbers, the formula holds still. Say your AWW is $600, and light duty now pays you $300 a week:
| Step | Math | Result | |---|---|---| | Your average weekly wage | | $600 | | Minus this week's earnings | $600 − $300 | $300 | | Partial TIBs: 70% of the difference | $300 × 0.70 | $210 |
That week you would receive $510 in total: $300 in wages and $210 in benefits. Lower-wage workers receive a higher percentage, 75 percent, for the first 26 weeks of benefits. The state's weekly maximum and minimum rates cap every TIBs check, partial or full (Maximum and Minimum Comp Rates for Income Benefits). The income benefits calculator on this site will run these numbers for your own wage, and Comp Rate: Your Weekly Benefit Amount explains the percentages in more detail.
Two parts of the formula deserve a check of your own. First, the AWW: if it was set too low, every partial check built on it is too low (Average Weekly Wage in Texas Workers' Compensation Claims shows how to verify it). Second, the earnings figure: the carrier calculates from what your employer reports, and reporting errors happen. Keep your own pay stubs and compare.
A benefit that changes week to week
Light-duty earnings are rarely steady. Hours fluctuate, and each week's check should reflect that week's actual earnings: a smaller check in a good week, a larger one in a lean week. In practice, carriers sometimes set one reduced amount and leave it there. That is worth watching. If your hours dropped and your check did not rise, send the adjuster your pay stubs in writing and ask for a corrected calculation. When the carrier changes your payment amount, it must send notice PLN-08 showing the new math; read it against your own records rather than filing it away.
If the light-duty job ends, through no fault of your own, your disability may return to total and your checks should return to the full TIBs amount. If instead you stop the job voluntarily, expect the carrier to argue about it; How Your Actions Can Affect a Disability Determination covers that risk before you act on it.
When partial TIBs end
Partial TIBs end the same three ways all TIBs end: your earnings return to the pre-injury level, a doctor releases you to full duty on the work status report, form DWC073, or you reach MMI, whether certified by a doctor or by the passage of time under Statutory MMI: The 104-Week Clock on Temporary Benefits. What comes after, including impairment income benefits if you have permanent damage, is covered at How Returning to Work Affects Your Benefits.
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.
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