IIllinois employer responsible for TTD benefits
The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission held that the employer was responsible for temporary total disability benefits for an extended period while the worker was awaiting recall from a temporary layoff. The Commission awarded 173 weeks of TTD benefits and found the employee disabled to the extent of 40% of a person as a whole pursuant to Section 8(d)(2) of the WCA.
Where the employer fails to take any action after the employee's layoff from restricted work and the employee fails to look for employment for an extended period because he is awaiting recall by the employer, the employer is responsible for TTD payment, as it was the employer that caused the long absence from work.
The employee, a construction worker, injured his right ankle at work when a structure collapsed and he fell more than 10 feet. On June 6, 2004, the employee returned to restricted work. He was then off work from March 20, 2005 through Sept. 4, 2005, recovering from fusion surgery. He again returned to restricted work until Jan. 7 2006, when he was laid off due to bad weather. He was never recalled by the employer after that layoff. However, the crew he had worked with since his hiring in 2001 was recalled by the end of January. In early August 2006, the employee called the defendant's headquarters and was told there was no restricted work available and he was considered a "voluntary quit." After the phone conversation, the employee immediately began looking for employment within his restrictions. He found employment as a gas station clerk at $6.75 per hour with an additional $.50 at night.
In awarding temporary total disability benefits, the arbitrator noted that the employer did not offer any alternate employment or assistance in finding work. The employee's action in finding a full-time job, although at a lesser rate of pay, was reasonable given the lack of vocational assistance from the employer and the physical restrictions limiting the jobs available to the employee. Because it was the failure of the employer to take any action after the January layoff while the employee was waiting to be recalled to work that caused the long absence from work, the employer was responsible for TTD payments during that time. Upon review the Commission affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.
