If you are unable to return to work after an on-the-job injury, you may be able to get weekly benefits from the workers’ compensation insurer. The benefits are available on either a temporary or a permanent basis.
Temporary disability benefits will be paid out until you have reached your maximum medical improvement (MMI), which is the phrase used to describe the point at which a person reaches a treatment plateau and no fundamental, functional, or physiological change can be expected within reasonable medical probability despite continuing medical or rehabilitative procedures.
At this point, if you can go back to work at a lower-paying job or go back to work part-time, you may receive partial disability benefits to make up for some of the difference in wages. If you are completely unable to go back to work, you might receive permanent disability benefits equal to a portion of what you were making prior to the injury.