Human Resource Blog

Can workers comp and temporary disability run concurrently?

Can an employee on workers comp get short term disabilty at the same time?

That depends upon what you mean by short term disability. That term is used to mean cash benefits (short term disability payments) from an employer, insurance or the state. It can also mean unpaid time off under company policy.

Usually an employee who is injured cannot earn more than he would earn if he were at work. If the employee is being paid while on workers' comp, he or she is not eligible for short term disability income benefits. Short term disability benefits partially replace income lost when an employee is unable to work due to an injury. If the employee is being paid through workers' comp, no income is lost, therefore the employee does not qualify for benefits. State short term disability benefits are usually not payable to someone who is injured at work.

If the employee is falsely claiming not to have any income to collect short term disability benefits, that is fraud or insurance fraud.

On the other hand, some employers use the term short term disability to mean “unpaid leave” and in some cases to mean FMLA. An employee who is on workers' comp may very well be on unpaid leave at the same time, under a company policy. An employee who is on workers' comp is almost always on FMLA concurrently.