If you, or anyone you know, is working on a workers' compensation claim, you may be dealing with mountains of paperwork covered in acronyms and abbreviations. Don't let yourself drown in these oceans of acronyms, but try to understand what some of them mean. It's important to understand them for your workers' compensation case, so that you can work efficiently with a Central Florida workers' compensation attorney. Your lawyer may be able to help you decipher some of the abbreviations relating to your case, but here is a list of some common ones:
Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
These are activities that we, as individuals, are expected to perform in our daily lives. They're usually simple and routine tasks that we may take for granted, such as personal hygiene (brushing your teeth, combing your hair, etc.) or feeding yourself. Your workers' compensation lawyer may look at these to see if your injury affected them.
Average Weekly Wage (AWW)
Depending on your particular injury, you may not be able to continue working in the future. Your attorney may try to determine your average weekly wage, and help you receive benefits for lost wages. There is more information on calculating average weekly wage here.
Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
The cost of living (wages, medical treatment, food, etc.) changes over time. Because of inflation, adjustments may be made when workers' compensation benefits are paid over many years.
Employer/Carrier (E/C)
This refers to the employer and workers' comp insurance carrier.
Future Earning Capacity (FEC)
This often appears alongside the employee's impairment rating (see below). It refers to the amount you could potentially earn in the future had you not been injured on the job.
Impairment Rating (IR)
This is your level of impairment as determined by your doctor. If he or she determines that you will recover from your injuries and will be able to lead an uninterrupted life during the recovery process, you may be assigned temporary partial disability. On the other hand, if your impairment is more serious than that, you may receive a temporary total disability rating.
Last Day Paid/Last Day Worked (LDP/LDW)
Important dates to know when calculating the total amount of lost wages.
Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)
Your doctor may at some point come to the conclusion that your injuries will no longer improve with medical care. You may still be entitled to benefits, though, so it's important to discuss the details of your case with a workers' compensation attorney.
Permanent Total Disability (PTD)
This is one of the impairment ratings used by authorized physicians. It may vary from state to state, but in the Florida Statue 440.15 this rating is determined by whether or not the employee experienced severe brain or spinal cord injury, amputated a body part, or is generally unable to engage in sedentary work within 50 miles of their house.
Social Security Administration (SSA)
The Social Security Administration is responsible for paying specific disability benefits. If your at-work injury resulted in you being disabled, you may be able to file for and collect disability benefits.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD)
This is another impairment rating, which assumes that the employee will be able to return to work in a reasonable amount of time.
Temporary Total Disability (TTD)
This particular impairment rating is similar to permanent total disability. It deals with severe impairments such as a loss of limb, a loss of sight, a loss of function in daily life, etc. However, in the case of TTD, if the employee is able to perform light sedentary work within 50 miles of their home, then their benefits may be affected.
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