Permanent Disability Benefits in Workers' Compensation

Berkowitz and Burton provide a detailed examination of the adequacy and equity of permanent partial disability benefits, and the efficiency of the system delivering those benefits. A ten-state study is presented that examines states' criteria for awarding scheduled and nonscheduled benefits. Three of those states are then used for a wage-loss study illustrating the relationship among workers' disability ratings, the workers' WC benefits, and losses of earnings caused by work-related injuries.