Permanent Partial Disability in Arizona Workers' Comp: Scheduled vs. Unscheduled Injuries

If a work injury leaves you with a lasting impairment, Arizona workers' compensation pays permanent partial disability benefits under A.R.S. § 23-1044 in one of two ways, depending on the injury. Certain listed injuries, such as the loss of a finger or limb, are paid under a fixed schedule. Everything else is paid based on how much the injury reduces your ability to earn a living. Knowing which category an injury falls into helps explain why two workers with similar paychecks can receive very different benefits.

Scheduled injuries: a fixed period of payments

Subsection B of § 23-1044 provides that disability is deemed permanent partial disability if caused by any of the specified injuries it lists. For those injuries, compensation of "fifty-five percent of the average monthly wage of the injured employee, in addition to the compensation for temporary total disability, shall be paid for the period given in the following schedule."

The schedule assigns a set number of months to each listed loss, including the loss of fingers, a thumb, toes, a hand, an arm, a leg, and hearing. The statute's own examples show the range: the loss of a thumb is assigned 15 months, an index finger 9 months, a great toe 7 months, and a major arm 60 months. Because these are fixed periods, the payment length is set by which injury is listed rather than by how a worker's job is affected afterward.

Unscheduled injuries: tied to earning capacity

Many lasting injuries are not on the schedule. For those, subsection C applies. When an injury causes permanent partial disability for work, the employee receives compensation equal to "fifty-five percent of the difference between the employee's average monthly wages before the accident and the amount that represents the employee's reduced monthly earning capacity resulting from the disability."

Payments in this category do not continue after the disability ends or after the injured employee dies. If the partial disability begins after a period of total disability, the period of total disability is deducted from the total period of compensation.

The key concept is reduced earning capacity. It is a measure of what the injury has done to your ability to earn, not simply a medical rating of the injury. That is why the evaluation of work restrictions and earning ability can carry so much weight in an unscheduled claim.

Temporary partial disability is different

Subsection A of the same statute covers a different situation: temporary partial disability, where a worker is recovering and can earn something, but less than before. There the statute provides for "sixty-six and two-thirds percent of the difference between the wages earned before the injury and the wages that the injured person is able to earn thereafter," paid during that period. The rate and purpose differ from the permanent categories above.

How this connects to the wage calculation

All of these benefits start from the average monthly wage figure. How that number is defined and capped is a separate question, which we cover in our explainer on how Arizona calculates workers' comp wage benefits. And if a claim is denied before any of these benefits come into play, the timing rules in our guide to the 90-day hearing deadline become the more urgent issue.

What to keep in mind

The statute describes the formulas and categories, not what any individual worker will receive. Whether an injury is scheduled or unscheduled, how earning capacity is evaluated, and how much any benefit is worth in dollars all depend on the specific medical findings and work history. Anyone with questions about their own claim can contact the Industrial Commission of Arizona or a licensed attorney.

This article explains Arizona law in general terms and is not legal advice. Statute text is from the Arizona Legislature's published A.R.S. § 23-1044.