How to Calculate an Illinois Work Comp Settlement

The math in calculating a workers compensation settlement is really quite simple.  The difficult part is determining the  factors to insert into the settlement equation to calculate the settlement. 

 To calculate the workers compensation settlement, you take the injured workers average weekly wage (AWW) and multiply that by 60%, then take that number (which is subject to some maximins and minimums) multiply it by the percentage of the loss of use of the specific body part. There is usually a big dispute at to the percentage of loss of use for the specific body part and that is determined by the facts of each case. This number is the PPD settlement , which is an acronm for Permenant Partial Disability. This is the total amount of settlement money avaliable under the law to compensate the injured worker for his permenant disability for a loss of use case. 

In Illinois the legislature has broken the body down into several parts and assigned each body part a total number of weeks.  The total number of weeks each body part has represents the total value of that body part. For example the value or an arm is currently 253 weeks, regardless if it is your dominant arm. This number the highest number of weeks you could use in the settlement equation if your arm was amputated.

The calculation for the average weekly wage is quite simple if the injured workers is an hourly worker and works only 40 hours per week.  The calculation is more difficult If the injured worker has worked over time or a second job that the employer knew about, then he may be able to use those wages to increase his AWW. A higher AWW calculates into a higher dollar workers compensation settlement.

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