Loss of Use - Schedule Loss of Use of A Member (Workers' Compensation Law)

Schedule Loss of Use of A Member (Workers' Compensation Law)

Under workers' compensation law, a schedule loss of use is the set amount of compensation an employee may receive for the inability to use a particular body member, such as an arm, hand, finger, leg, foot, or toe. An injured employee will receive monetary benefits for the loss of use of such a body member during periods of temporary disability associated therewith, and/or at the time a judicial finding is made of permanent impairment. These monetary benefits are in addition to other benefits for compensation such as medical benefits. An essential basis for calculating a Schedule Loss of Use ("SLU") is often a multiple of the injured employee's pre-injury average weekly wage, or some percentage thereof, as determined by a state's Workers' Compensation Law. This wage information is utilized in conjunction with a medical assessment by an evaluating physician, together with a schedule which standardizes the value of particular injuries. This standardization is necessary to ensure Equal Protection while applying a Workers' Compensation scheme. The physician's loss assessment is converted to a period of weeks, utilizing the schedule published in law, and then this number of weeks is multiplied by the wage basis to determine the total value of the SLU. Due to the complexity of the calculations involved in determining an SLU, it may be useful to utilize an SLU calculator, such as may be provided on legal, public service, academic, or informational websites. The etymology of tort is from the French word for twisted -- as in wrongful, trespassing, sick, perverted, or disturbed. Unlike in other aspects of tort law, rather than being figurative, the meaning is sometimes literal, whereby a worker's arm has been twisted by machinery, and is rendered useless for work.