TEMPORARY TOTAL INCAPACITY BENEFITS

You qualify for total temporary benefits if your injury leaves you unable to work, considering your age, training, and experience, for six or more calendar days (the days do not have to be consecutive). You can receive these benefits for up to 156 weeks. Compensation begins on the sixth day of incapacity; you will not be compensated for the first five days of incapacity unless you are disabled for 21 days or more. Again, these days do not have to be consecutive.

Temporary total benefits are based on your gross earnings over the 52 weeks prior to your injury. To determine your benefits, take your actual gross earnings, including overtime, bonuses, etc., and divide this number by the number of weeks you worked, in order to compute your average weekly wage. Multiply that by 60 percent and come up with your approximate weekly compensation. The maximum that you can receive is the state's average weekly wage (SAWW) at the time of your injury. The SAWW is set annually by the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance.

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