Arkansas WCC Issues Updates To Advisory 2000-1 And Advisory 2007-1

Little Rock, AR (CompNewsNetwork) - The Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission Announced changes to Total Disability and Permanent Partial Disability 

The update to Advisory 2000-1 shows the new maximums for 2009 for Total Disability ($550) and Permanent Partial Disability ($413).

The AWW is determined by the Department of Workforce Services. That sum is used by the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission to calculate compensation rates for injured workers. Ark. Code Ann. §§ 11-10-502(e), 11-9-102(17)(A).

The update to Advisory 2007-1 shows the new threshold at which the Death and Permanent Disability Trust Fund will assume payments of benefits for injuries resulting in permanent disability or death for 2009 ($178,750).

Act 1599 of 2007 amended Ark. Code Ann. '11-9-502 by raising the seventy-five thousand dollar ($75,000) threshold at which the Death and Permanent Disability Trust Fund assumes payments of benefits for injuries resulting in permanent disability or death.

The act eliminated the $75,000 cap on weekly benefits paid by the employer or its insurance carrier for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2008. For those injuries occurring prior to January 1, 2008, the $75,000 limit on employer/carrier liability is still applicable.

However, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2008, the employer or its carrier shall pay weekly benefits for death or permanent total disability Anot to exceed three hundred twenty-five (325) times the maximum total disability rate@ at the time of the injury.

Share This Article: