Light Duty and Workers' Comp: How Partial Disability Pay Works

A doctor clears you for "modified duty," your employer offers a desk job at fewer hours, and suddenly your paycheck is smaller than before the injury but your workers' comp check has stopped. Is that how it's supposed to work? In most states, no. When you return to work for less money while still recovering, workers' comp usually pays temporary partial disability (TPD) to make up part of the difference. This guide explains how TPD works in the ten states covered on this site.

Total vs partial disability

Temporary benefits come in two forms:

• Temporary total disability (TTD) when you can't work at all during recovery.
• Temporary partial disability (TPD) when you can work, but your injury limits your hours or the kind of job you can do, so you earn less.

The switch from one to the other is usually triggered by your treating doctor's work restrictions combined with a job offer from your employer that fits them.

The basic TPD formula

Most states pay two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage (AWW) and what you earn now. A few use a different percentage:

State	TPD formula	Limit
California	⅔ of the wage loss	Counts toward the 104-week TD limit
Texas	70% of the difference (75% for workers under $8.50/hour, first 26 weeks)	Ends at MMI or 104 weeks
New York	⅔ of the reduced earnings	Depends on later classification
Pennsylvania	⅔ of the difference	500 weeks
North Carolina	⅔ of the difference	500 weeks, less weeks of TTD
South Carolina	⅔ of the difference	340 weeks from the date of injury
Tennessee	⅔ of the difference	While the partial disability lasts
Kentucky	No separate TPD benefit	Light-duty earnings can offset TTD
Alabama	⅔ of the difference	300 weeks
Missouri	⅔ of the difference from what you could earn with reasonable diligence	100 weeks

In every state, TPD can't exceed the state's weekly maximum.

A worked example

You averaged $1,000 a week before the injury. Your employer brings you back at $550 a week on light duty. The weekly loss is $450.

• In most of these states, TPD is two-thirds of $450: $300 a week, so you bring in $850.
• In Texas, it is 70% of $450: $315 a week.
• In Kentucky there is no separate TPD; the question is whether TTD continues and how your light-duty earnings are credited.

Can you turn down light duty?

This is the question injured workers ask most, and the answer is usually not without consequences. Most states reduce or suspend benefits when a worker refuses suitable work:

• In North Carolina, refusing suitable employment can suspend your compensation while the refusal continues, unless the Industrial Commission finds the refusal justified.
• In Texas, a bona fide written job offer within your restrictions generally counts as post-injury earnings even if you turn it down, so your TIBs fall as if you had taken it.
• In Missouri, TPD is based on what you could earn with reasonable diligence, so an available job you decline can still be counted against you.

"Suitable" is the key word. The job has to fit your doctor's written restrictions. If it doesn't, for example it requires lifting beyond your limit or ignores a schedule restriction, put your objection in writing, and send it to both the employer and the insurer, with a copy of your restrictions.

Practical tips for light duty

1. Get restrictions in writing after every doctor visit and give a copy to your supervisor.
2. Keep every pay stub from the light-duty job. TPD is calculated from actual earnings, and missing stubs delay payment.
3. Report all earnings, including from a second job. Unreported earnings can turn into an overpayment the insurer later recovers.
4. Watch the calendar. TPD weeks count toward caps in many states, such as 100 weeks in Missouri and 340 in South Carolina.
5. Tell the doctor if the job makes things worse. If modified work aggravates the injury, the doctor can change your restrictions and you may return to TTD.

When light-duty work ends

If your employer eliminates the light-duty position, or the job ends before you've recovered, your TTD generally resumes, because the reason you're not earning is still your injury. Notify the insurer immediately and in writing; benefits rarely restart on their own.

Light duty and the state maximum

Partial benefits are capped at the same weekly maximum as total disability, but for most workers the cap never comes into play. Because TPD covers only part of a gap, it is almost always smaller than the TTD rate. The exception is a high earner who returns at a much lower wage. Someone who averaged $3,000 a week in New York and returns at $600 has a $2,400 gap; two-thirds of that is $1,600, but the payment is limited to New York's $1,281.50 maximum for injuries after July 1, 2026.

Questions people ask about light duty

Does light duty count toward my week limits? In most states, yes. TPD weeks count toward the partial limit, and in some states, such as North Carolina, total and partial weeks share a single cap.

My employer offered light duty at a different location. Do I have to take it? That depends on whether the job is reasonable and within your restrictions. Distance, schedule and the type of work all matter, and states weigh them differently. Raise your concerns in writing before you refuse.

What if my light-duty hours change every week? TPD is calculated week by week from what you actually earned, so the check should change with your hours. Send pay stubs promptly so the insurer can adjust.

Can I collect unemployment while on light duty? States treat this differently, and many reduce workers' comp when you receive unemployment benefits for the same weeks. Report both to each agency.

Will taking light duty hurt my claim? No. Accepting suitable work within your restrictions is usually the safest choice for keeping benefits. If the work worsens your condition, tell your doctor right away.

Calculate your partial benefit

Choose "Working, earning less" in the calculator and enter what you earn now. For Kentucky, the calculator covers total disability only, because the state has no separate partial benefit.

Sources

• California Labor Code §4654; Texas Labor Code §408.103; New York Workers' Compensation Law §15(5); 77 P.S. §512; N.C. Gen. Stat. §§97-30, 97-32; S.C. Code §42-9-20; Tenn. Code §50-6-207(2); Code of Alabama §25-5-57(a)(2); Mo. Rev. Stat. §287.180
• Nolo, How much are workers' compensation benefits in South Carolina?
• Nolo, How much are workers' compensation benefits in Missouri?