How Much Are Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Alabama?

If you were injured or developed an occupational disease because of your job in Alabama, you may be eligible to receive benefits through the state workers' compensation system. This article explains how the state calculates the most important workers' comp benefits.

The actual amount you ultimately receive will depend on circumstances unique to your case, including the nature and extent of your injuries, whether you're able to return to your normal job, and how much you were earning at the time of your injury. (To get these benefits, you will need to file a workers' comp claim and show that your injury or illness is work related.)

Temporary Disability Benefits in Alabama

If your doctor says that you can't work at your normal job while you're recovering from your injury or occupational disease, you will be eligible for temporary disability benefits. Alabama has a three-day waiting period before temporary disability benefits begin, unless you're disabled for 21 days or more. (Ala. Code § 25-5-59 (2023).)

Temporary Total Disability

You will receive temporary total disability (TTD) benefits when your injuries prevent you from doing any work during your recovery. In Alabama, TTD benefits are generally two-thirds of your average weekly wages (typically based on your earnings over the year before your injury).

However, the state sets maximum and minimum amounts for these payments based on average statewide earnings.

For injuries that happen between July 2023 and June 2024, the maximum TTD benefit is $1,084 per week, and the minimum is $298 unless your pre-injury wages were lower than that. (The Alabama Department of Labor's website publishes a list of maximum and minimum benefits for other years.)

You should continue receiving TTD benefits until you're able to return to work or your doctor says that you've reached "maximum medical improvement" (MMI), which means that your condition has stabilized and isn't likely to improve any further. (Ala. Code §§ 25-5-57(a)(1), (b), 25-5-68 (2023).)

Temporary Partial Disability

Alabama pays temporary partial disability benefits when you are able to do some work after your injury but can't earn as much as usual—typically because your doctor has restricted you to light-duty or part-time work. These benefits are two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury earnings and what you're able to earn now. For example, suppose you normally earn $800 a week, but now you can only handle a light-duty job that pays $500 per week. You would receive $200 in weekly benefits (two-thirds of $300).

Alabama sets a 300-week limit on temporary partial disability benefits. (Ala. Code § 25-5-57 (2023).)

Permanent Partial Disability Benefits in Alabama

Once you've reached MMI, your doctor will evaluate you to determine if you have any permanent physical impairment as a result of your injury and, if so, to what extent. You'll receive a permanent disability rating in the form of a percentage of disability. Most of the time, your permanent disability will be partial.

Alabama has different ways of calculating permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits, depending on the nature of your disability: scheduled awards based on impairments to certain body parts, awards for disfigurement, and unscheduled awards for other injuries.

Scheduled Awards

A schedule in Alabama law lists a number of weeks for the loss or lost use of certain body parts—basically the extremities, eyes, and hearing loss. For example, amputation or complete lost use of an arm is worth 222 weeks. If you've lost partial use of an arm, you'd receive TTD benefits for a number of weeks in proportion to the percentage of your impairment. For instance, if you lost 50% of the use of an arm, you would receive payments for 111 weeks.

The weekly amount of these benefits is $220 per week or two-thirds of your pre-injury wages, whichever is less. You may ask to receive the total amount of your scheduled award in a lump sum rather than in weekly installments, but your request will be approved only if the workers' comp judge believes that would be in your best interest. (Ala. Code §§ 25-5-57(3), 25-5-68, 25-5-83 (2023).)

Disfigurement Awards

If your injury has resulted in a serious disfigurement that limits your ability to find work (and isn't already covered by a scheduled loss of use), you might be awarded PPD benefits up to 100 weeks.

Disfigurement awards have the same $220-per-week maximum as scheduled awards, and you may request to receive the benefits in a lump sum. (Ala. Code §§ 25-5-57(3), 25-5-68, 25-5-83 (2023).)

Unscheduled Awards

If you have an impairment to a part of your body that's not included in the schedule—such as your back, neck, head, or internal organs—your weekly PPD benefit will be based on the difference between your pre-injury injury wages and what you're able to earn in your current condition, up to a maximum of $220 a week.

These benefits will last for a maximum of 300 weeks, minus the number of weeks that you already received TTD benefits. Here again, you may ask to receive these benefits in a lump sum. (Ala. Code §§ 25-5-57(3)(g), 25-5-68, 25-5-83 (2023).)

Permanent Total Disability Benefits in Alabama

If you're permanently and totally disabled as a result of your injuries—meaning that you're completely unable to work or to be retrained for any gainful employment—you will continue to receive weekly benefits at the PPD rate (subject to the same maximum and minimum), potentially for the rest of your life.

However, your employer may ask the court to end these benefits if it claims that you're able to do some work as a result of physical or vocational rehabilitation.

You may not receive these benefits if you've refused to accept reasonable work accommodations offered by your employer or to participate in physical or vocational rehabilitation. (Ala. Code § 25-5-57(4) (2023).)

Additional Benefits

Alabama workers' compensation also provides additional benefits, including:

• Medical benefits. Workers' comp pays for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment for your work injury or occupational disease, as long as your treatment is authorized. Your employer will choose your initial doctor, but you have the right to select another physician from a panel or list provided by your employer. (Learn more about how to get medical treatment through workers' comp and the role of the treating doctor.) (Ariz. Code § 25-5-77 (2023).)
• Vocational rehabilitation. If your doctor says that you can't return to your regular job, you can ask for vocational rehabilitation services. You'll receive those services without cost if it's determined that they are likely to help you return to gainful employment. If your employer offers you vocational rehabilitation, your participation is mandatory. (Ala. Code § 25-5-77(c) (2023).)
• Mileage and travel. Workers' comp pays mileage costs for traveling to and from medical appointments and vocational rehabilitation, as well as other travel costs, board, and lodging when you have to be away from home for vocational rehabilitation. (Ala. Code § 25-5-77(c), (f) (2023).)
• Death benefits and burial expenses. When an employee dies as a result of a work injury (within three years after the injury), workers' comp will pay death benefits to surviving family members who were financially dependent on the deceased employee (generally the surviving spouse and minor children). Depending on how many dependents there are, the weekly benefit amount is either one-half or two-thirds of the deceased employee's pre-injury wages (subject to the same maximum and minimum as for TTD benefits). Death benefits will continue as long as the survivors remain dependent, up to a maximum of 500 weeks. Workers' comp will also pay the reasonable expenses to bury the deceased employee, up to $6,500. (Ala. Code §§ 25-5-60, 25-5-61, 25-5-67 (2023).)

Getting Help Collecting Workers' Comp Benefits

If you're having trouble collecting all of the workers' comp benefits you deserve, a qualified workers' comp attorney may be able to help. And before you sign a workers' comp settlement, you should have a lawyer review the agreement to make sure that your rights are fully protected. (Learn more about when you need a lawyer for your workers' comp case.)