Say you’ve been severely injured on the job in CT, should you file a workers compensation claim? Filing a workers compensation claim can seem like a daunting task, especially when TV and radio ads bombard you with legal terms about work injuries and possible benefits, without explaining what they mean or if they pertain to you. Workers in Connecticut are entitled to receive compensation benefits for injuries received while working.

Here are some words to know and information about the types of disability benefits you can earn from filing a worker’s compensation case:

Temporary Total (TT) Disability payments are paid for the period of time in which the work injury or treatment, combined with a preexisting condition, keeps the injured employee from doing any work at all. These benefits often include payment for medical expenses and the time taken off from work for recovery.

Temporary Partial (TP) Disability payments are paid when the employee has healed enough to perform some work, but still cannot perform the full duties of the job. This includes if the employee is working within the restrictions outlined by a doctor. Sometimes, TP Disability payments are also paid to employees for a time where they have already received benefits for a permanent injury, but still cannot earn as much due not being able to perform the full duties they did before.

Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) is when a doctor states that an employee has healed as much as he or she probably ever will. They will decide the extent of the permanent injury. At this point, the employee can begin to receive payments for Permanent Partial Disability.

Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) payments must be paid at the time of MMI if the injured person is suffering a lasting disability but can still perform some work, whether or not the person is currently employed, and whether or not the person can still perform their old job.

PPD payments are also referred to as “specific” payments because Connecticut has very specific laws about how to calculate the payments. Under CT law, almost every body part is assigned a value of the number of weeks of compensation benefits possible. This number is combined with a percentage of permanent impairment estimated by a doctor.

Discretionary Benefits, also known as 308a benefits, are paid when an employee has healed as much as possible (MMI), received PPD payments, and still cannot earn as much as they did before the injury. For discretionary benefits, the commissioner estimates what the employee would be earning doing the old job and compares the estimate to what the employee iscapable of earning now. The commissioner may choose to order the employer’s insurance company to pay extra benefits to make up for the difference in potential earnings.