2023 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations › Chapter 102 - Worker's compensation. › 102.43 - Weekly compensation schedule.

102.43
Weekly compensation schedule.
If the injury causes disability, an indemnity shall be due as wages commencing the 4th calendar day from the commencement of the day the scheduled work shift began, exclusive of Sundays only, excepting where the employee works on Sunday, after the employee leaves work as the result of the injury, and shall be payable weekly thereafter, during such disability. If the disability exists after 7 calendar days from the date the employee leaves work as a result of the injury and only if it so exists, indemnity shall also be due and payable for the first 3 calendar days, exclusive of Sundays only, excepting where the employee works on Sunday. Said weekly indemnity shall be as follows:
(1)
If the injury causes total disability, two-thirds of the average weekly earnings during such disability.
(2)
If the injury causes partial disability, during the partial disability, such proportion of the weekly indemnity rate for total disability as the actual wage loss of the injured employee bears to the injured employee's average weekly wage at the time of the injury.
(3)
If the disability caused by the injury is at times total and at times partial, the weekly indemnity during each total or partial disability shall be in accordance with subs. (1) and (2), respectively.
(4)
If the disability period involves a fractional week, indemnity shall be paid for each day of such week, except Sundays only, at the rate of one-sixth of the weekly indemnity.
(5)
(a)
Temporary disability, during which compensation shall be payable for loss of earnings, shall include such period as may be reasonably required for training in the use of artificial members and appliances.
(b)
Except as provided in s. 102.61 (1g), temporary disability shall also include such period as the employee may be receiving instruction under s. 102.61 (1) or (1m). Temporary disability on account of receiving instruction under s. 102.61 (1) or (1m), and not otherwise resulting from the injury, shall not be in excess of 80 weeks. That 80-week limitation does not apply to temporary disability benefits under this section, the cost of tuition, fees, books, travel, or maintenance under s. 102.61 (1), or the cost of private rehabilitation counseling or rehabilitative training under s. 102.61 (1m) if the department or the division determines that additional training is warranted. The necessity for additional training as authorized by the department or the division for any employee shall be subject to periodic review and reevaluation.
(c)
Compensation for temporary disability on account of receiving instruction under s. 102.61 (1) or (1m) shall not be reduced under sub. (2) on account of any wages earned for the first 24 hours worked by an employee during a week in which the employee is receiving that instruction. If an employee performs more than 24 hours of work during a week in which the employee is receiving that instruction, all wages earned for hours worked in excess of 24 during that week shall be offset against the employee's average weekly wage in calculating compensation for temporary disability under sub. (2). An employee who is receiving compensation for temporary disability on account of receiving instruction under s. 102.61 (1) or (1m) shall report any wages earned during the period in which the employee is receiving that instruction to the insurance carrier or self-insured employer paying that compensation.
(6)
(a)
Except as provided in par. (b), no sick leave benefits provided in connection with other employment or wages received from other employment held by the employee when the injury occurred may be considered in computing actual wage loss from the employer in whose employ the employee sustained injury.
(b)
In the case of an employee whose average weekly earnings are calculated under s. 102.11 (1) (ap) 2., wages received from other employment held by the employee when the injury occurred shall be considered in computing actual wage loss from the employer in whose employ the employee sustained the injury as provided in this paragraph. If an employee's average weekly earnings are calculated under s. 102.11 (1) (ap) 2., wages received from other employment held by the employee when the injury occurred shall be offset against those average weekly earnings and not against the employee's actual earnings in the employment in which the employee was engaged at the time of the injury.
(c)
Wages received from the employer in whose employ the employee sustained injury or from other employment obtained after the injury occurred shall be considered in computing benefits for temporary disability.
(7)
(a)
If an employee has a renewed period of temporary disability commencing more than 2 years after the date of injury and, except as provided in par. (b), the employee returned to work for at least 10 days preceding the renewed period of disability, payment of compensation for the new period of disability shall be made as provided in par. (c).
(b)
An employee need not return to work at least 10 days preceding a renewed period of temporary disability to obtain benefits under sub. (5) (b) for rehabilitative training commenced more than 2 years after the date of injury. Benefits for rehabilitative training shall be made as provided in par. (c).
(c)
1.
If the employee was entitled to maximum weekly benefits at the time of injury, payment for the renewed temporary disability or the rehabilitative training shall be at the maximum rate in effect at the commencement of the new period.
2.
If the employee was entitled to less than the maximum rate, the employee shall receive the same proportion of the maximum which is in effect at the time of the commencement of the renewed period or the rehabilitative training as the employee's actual rate at the time of injury bore to the maximum rate in effect at that time.
3.
For an employee who is receiving rehabilitative training, a holiday break, semester break or other, similar scheduled interruption in a course of instruction does not commence a new period of rehabilitative training under this paragraph.
(8)
During a compulsory vacation period scheduled in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement:
(a)
Regardless of whether the employee's healing period has ended, no employee at work immediately before the compulsory vacation period may receive a temporary total disability benefit for injury sustained while engaged in employment for that employer.
(b)
An employee receiving temporary partial disability benefits immediately before the compulsory vacation period for injury sustained while engaged in employment for that employer shall continue to receive those benefits.
(9)
Temporary disability, during which compensation shall be payable for loss of earnings, shall include the period during which an employee could return to a restricted type of work during the healing period, unless any of the following apply:
(a)
Suitable employment that is within the physical and mental limitations of the employee is furnished to the employee by the employer or some other employer. For purposes of this paragraph, if the employer or some other employer makes a good faith offer of suitable employment that is within the physical and mental limitations of the employee and if the employee refuses without reasonable cause to accept that offer, the employee is considered to have returned to work as of the date of the offer at the earnings that the employee would have received but for the refusal. In case of a dispute as to the extent of an employee's physical or mental limitations or as to what employment is suitable within those limitations, the employee may file an application under s. 102.17 and ss. 102.17 to 102.26 shall apply.
(b)
The employee's employment with the employer has been suspended or terminated due to the employee's alleged commission of a crime, the circumstances of which are substantially related to that employment, and the employee has been charged with the commission of that crime. If the employee is not found guilty of the crime, compensation for temporary disability shall be payable in full.
(c)
The employee's employment with the employer has been suspended or terminated due to the employee's violation of the employer's policy concerning employee drug use during the period when the employee could return to a restricted type of work during the healing period. Compensation for temporary disability may be denied under this paragraph only if prior to the date of injury the employer's policy concerning employee drug use was established in writing and regularly enforced by the employer.
(d)
The employee has been convicted of a crime, is incarcerated, and is not available to return to a restricted type of work during the healing period.
(e)
The employee's employment with the employer has been suspended or terminated due to misconduct, as defined in s. 108.04 (5), or substantial fault, as defined in s. 108.04 (5g) (a), by the employee connected with the employee's work.
History:  1971 c. 148; 1973 c. 150; 1975 c. 147; 1977 c. 195; 1979 c. 278; 1983 a. 98; 1985 a. 83; 1987 a. 179; 1993 a. 370, 492; 1995 a. 225, 413; 2001 a. 37; 2005 a. 172; 2009 a. 206; 2011 a. 183; 2015 a. 55, 180; 2021 a. 232.
Committee Note, 1971: Employees who have two jobs who have been injured at one of them have in some cases been made totally disabled for work at either job. Sick leave benefits from the other employer has suspended eligibility for compensation or has reduced compensation even though the employee suffered a wage loss. This is considered to be inequitable. Sick leave benefits from the employer where injury occurred are to be considered, however, in determining eligibility for compensation from such employer. [Bill 371-A]
Under sub. (5) and ss. 102.42 (9) (a) and 102.61, the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations may extend temporary disability, travel expense, and maintenance costs beyond 40 weeks if additional training is warranted. Beloit Corp. v. LIRC, 152 Wis. 2d 579, 449 N.W.2d 299 (Ct. App. 1989).
The phrase “if the injury causes disability" is interpreted in light of the “as is" rule that an employee's susceptibility to injury due to a pre-existing condition does not relieve the employer from liability. ITW Deltar v. LIRC, 226 Wis. 2d 11, 593 N.W.2d 908 (Ct. App. 1999), 98-2912.
The “as is" rule applies to delays in treatment of a work-related injury caused by a pre-existing condition. It was reasonable to find that a woman was entitled to benefits for the period she was unable to undergo surgery to repair a work-related injury due to the threat that anesthesia would cause harm to her pre-existing pregnancy. ITW Deltar v. LIRC, 226 Wis. 2d 11, 593 N.W.2d 908 (Ct. App. 1999), 98-2912.
The purpose of the worker's compensation program is to compensate employees for loss of income due to their inability to work as a result of work-related injury. Thus, to be a compensable wage loss under this section, the wage loss must be attributable to a work-related injury. An employee who retires for reasons entirely unrelated to the employee's injury cannot make such a showing because the employee's wage loss was caused by the employee's choice to voluntarily retire, not by the work-related injury. Mueller v. LIRC, 2019 WI App 50, 388 Wis. 2d 602, 933 N.W.2d 645, 18-0707.