OAR 436-060-0030: Temporary rule language in effect until 10/04/2026. Payment of Temporary Partial Disability Compensation

(1) Rate of temporary partial disability. The amount of temporary partial disability compensation due a worker must be determined by multiplying the worker’s rate of compensation for temporary total disability by the percentage of wages lost by the worker post injury. (a) To calculate the rate of temporary disability, the insurer must: (A) Subtract the worker’s post-injury wages from the worker’s wages at the time of injury under OAR 436-060-0025; (B) Divide the difference under paragraph (A) by the worker’s wages at the time of injury under OAR 436-060-0025 to arrive at the percentage of loss of wages; and (C) Multiply the worker’s current rate of compensation for temporary total disability by the percentage of loss of wages in paragraph (B). (b) As used in this rule "post-injury wages" means the sum of: (A) The wages the worker could have earned by accepting a job offer, or actual wages earned, whichever is greater; (B) Any unemployment benefits received; and (C) Any wages received for paid leave, except wages paid in addition to temporary disability compensation with the worker’s consent under OAR436-060-0025(1); (c) If a worker is not eligible for supplemental disability under OAR 436-060-0035, wages from a secondary employer must only be included in post-injury wages to the extent that the wages from the secondary employer post-injury exceed the wages from the secondary employer at the time of injury. (d) If the worker’s rate of temporary total disability compensation is based on an assumed wage, the rate of temporary partial disability must be calculated by multiplying the rate of temporary total disability by the percentage of hours lost by the worker post injury. (2) If the worker returns to employment. The insurer must stop paying temporary total disability compensation and start paying temporary partial disability compensation from the date an injured worker returns to regular or modified employment, prior to claim closure. (a) If the worker is with a new employer, and the insurer asks the worker to provide wage information, the worker is responsible for providing documented evidence of the amount of any wages being earned; and (b) If the worker fails to provide documentation, the insurer may assume that post-injury wages are the same as or higher than the worker’s wages at time of injury. (3) If the worker fails to begin employment. Except when the worker refuses modified work under ORS 656.268(4)(c), the insurer must stop paying temporary total disability compensation and start paying temporary partial disability compensation as if the worker had begun the employment from the date a worker fails to begin regular or modified employment, if the following conditions have been met: (a) The employer or insurer: (A) Notified the attending physician of the physical tasks to be performed by the injured worker; (B) Notified the attending physician of the location of the modified work offer; and (C) Asked the attending physician if the worker can, as a result of the compensable injury, physically commute to and perform the job. (b) The attending physician agreed the employment appears to be within the worker’s capabilities, and considering the compensable injury the worker is physically able to commute the lesser of the distance from: (A) The worker’s residence at the time of injury to the work site; or (B) The worker’s residence at the time of the modified work offer to the work site; and (c) The employer or insurer confirmed the offer of employment in writing to the worker stating: (A) The beginning time, date, and place; (B) The duration of the job, if known; (C) The wages; (D) An accurate description of the physical requirements of the job; (E) The attending physician has found the job to be within the worker’s capabilities and the commute to be within the worker’s physical capacity; (F) The worker’s right to refuse the offer of employment without termination of temporary total disability if any of the following conditions apply: (i) The offer is at a site more than 50 miles from the location where the worker was injured or where the worker customarily reported for work, unless the work site is less than 50 miles from the worker’s residence, or the job at the time of injury involved multiple or mobile work sites as established by the intent of the employer and worker at the time of hire or the employment pattern before the injury; (ii) The offer is not with the employer at injury; (iii) The offer is not at a work site of the employer at injury; (iv) The offer is not consistent with existing written shift change policy or common practice of the employer at injury or aggravation; or (v) The offer is not consistent with an existing shift change provision of an applicable union contract; and (G) The following notice in bold and formatted as follows: If you refuse this offer of work for any of the reasons listed in this notice, you should: - Write to the insurer or employer, and - Tell them your reasons for refusing the job. If the insurer reduces or stops your temporary total disability, you may appeal by requesting a hearing. To request a hearing, send a letter objecting to the insurer’s actions to: Worker’s Compensation Board 2601 25th Street SE, Suite 150 Salem OR 97302-1280 (4) If the worker has been terminated from employment. The insurer must stop paying temporary total disability compensation and start paying temporary partial disability compensation as if the worker had begun the employment from the date the worker’s attending physician approves employment in a modified job that would have been offered to the worker if the worker had not been terminated from employment for violation of work rules or other disciplinary reasons, under the following conditions: (a) The employer has a written policy of offering modified work to injured workers; (b) The insurer has written documentation of the hours available to work and the wages that would have been paid if the worker had returned to work in order to determine the amount of temporary partial disability compensation under section (1) of this rule; (c) The attending physician has been notified by the employer or insurer of the physical tasks to be performed by the injured worker; and (d) The attending physician agrees the employment appears to be within the worker’s capabilities. (5) If the worker is in violation of federal immigration law. The insurer must stop paying temporary total disability compensation and start paying temporary partial disability compensation as if the worker had begun the employment when the attending physician approves employment in a modified job whether or not such a job is available if the worker is a person present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, under the following conditions: (a) The insurer has written documentation of the hours available to work and the wages that would have been paid if the worker had returned to work in order to determine the amount of temporary partial disability compensation under section (1) of this rule; (b) The attending physician has been notified by the employer or insurer of the physical tasks that would have been performed by the injured worker; and (c) The attending physician agrees the employment appears to be within the worker’s capabilities. (6) If the modified job no longer exists or offer is withdrawn. Temporary partial disability must be paid at the temporary total disability rate as of the date a modified job no longer exists or the job offer is withdrawn by the employer. (a) Temporary disability paid under this section must be calculated under (1) of this rule, accounting for any post-injury wages. (b) This section applies to situations including, but not limited to, termination of temporary employment, layoff, or plant closure. (c) A worker who has been released to and doing modified work at the same wage as at the time of injury from the onset of the claim is subject to this section. (d) For the purpose of this rule, when a worker who has been doing modified work quits the job, or the employer terminates the worker for violation of work rules or other disciplinary reasons, it is not a withdrawal of a job offer by the employer, but must be considered the same as the worker refusing wage earning employment under ORS 656.325(5)(a). (e) This section does not apply to those situations described in sections (3), (4), and (5) of this rule. (7) Termination of temporary partial disability. When the worker’s disability is partial only and temporary in character, temporary partial disability compensation under ORS 656.212 must continue until: (a) The attending physician verifies the worker can no longer perform the modified job and is again temporarily totally disabled; (b) The compensation is terminated by order of the director or by claim closure under ORS 656.268; or (c) The compensation is lawfully suspended, withheld, or terminated for any other reason. (8) Verbal release to work. If temporary disability benefits end because the insurer or employer negotiates a verbal release of the worker to return to any type of work with the worker’s attending physician, and the worker has not been informed of the release by the attending physician or returned to work, the insurer must: (a) Document the facts; (b) Communicate the release to the worker by mail within seven days. The communication to the worker of the negotiated return-to-work release may be contained in an offer of modified employment; and (c) Advise the worker of their reinstatement rights under ORS chapter 659A. (9) Changes in the rate of compensation. When the insurer stops paying temporary total disability compensation and starts paying temporary partial disability compensation, or changes the compensation rate or the method of computation of benefits under this rule, the insurer must send written notice to the worker and worker’s attorney, if any, under OAR 436-060-0015.