How Much Does Workers’ Comp Pay in Illinois? (TTD, TPD, Maintenance & AWW Explained – 2026 Guide)

By Matthew C. Jones, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Updated and legally reviewed September 4, 2026

If your check seems too low, do not assume the insurance company used the correct wage records, divisor, or benefit formula. An error in your average weekly wage can affect every temporary-disability payment and may also reduce a later permanent-disability award or settlement.

This guide focuses on how Illinois workers’ compensation payments are calculated. For the broader structure of a claim, see our Illinois workers’ compensation overview and our guide to the different workers’ compensation benefits available in Illinois.

What Does Workers’ Comp Pay in Illinois?

Workers’ compensation is not limited to one weekly check. Depending on the claim, it may provide several different benefits:

Does Your Workers’ Comp Check Look Too Low?

McHargue & Jones can review your wage records, accident date, benefit rate, light-duty earnings, and payment history and explain whether the numbers appear correct.

Get a Free Benefits Review Call (312) 739-0000

How Much Does Temporary Total Disability Pay?

Temporary total disability (TTD) replaces part of your income while a work injury temporarily prevents you from working. TTD may be owed when your doctor takes you completely off work. It may also be owed when your doctor gives temporary restrictions and your employer does not provide suitable work within those restrictions.

The ordinary formula is:

TTD calculation example

• Average weekly wage: $1,200
• $1,200 × 66⅔% = $800 per week in TTD

That example falls within the current statewide range. A high-wage worker may be limited by the maximum rate. A lower-wage worker may be affected by the statutory minimum and the rule that the benefit cannot exceed the worker’s actual AWW.

Illinois TTD maximum and minimum rates for 2026

For accident dates from July 15, 2026 through January 14, 2027, the IWCC lists a statewide average weekly wage of $1,534.22 and a maximum TTD rate of $2,045.63 per week.

The published minimum depends on the number of qualifying children and/or a spouse:

Important: these rates apply to the relevant accident-date period. Older accident dates use different maximums and may use different minimums. The IWCC also states that the minimum is the worker’s AWW or the published minimum, whichever is lower. Confirm the applicable period on the official IWCC benefit-rate page.

When do TTD checks start?

Illinois has a short waiting period. If temporary total incapacity lasts more than three working days, TTD generally begins on the fourth day. If the incapacity continues for at least 14 days from the accident, compensation generally becomes payable beginning the day after the accident.

Our separate guide explains the Illinois workers’ comp three-day waiting period in detail.

How long can TTD continue?

There is no single maximum number of weeks for every case. TTD generally continues while the work injury causes temporary incapacity and the worker has not reached maximum medical improvement. It may stop when the worker returns to suitable work, reaches MMI, is released without disabling restrictions, or refuses appropriate work within valid restrictions. The facts and medical evidence matter.

For a fuller discussion, see how long Illinois workers’ compensation benefits may last. If the carrier has already stopped paying, read what to do when workers’ comp stops your checks.

Are TTD benefits taxable?

Workers’ compensation benefits paid under a workers’ compensation law are generally excluded from federal gross income. That is different from ordinary wages, unemployment compensation, or some retirement-related payments. Tax treatment can depend on the payment and the worker’s circumstances, so ask a qualified tax professional about your particular return.

How Much Does Temporary Partial Disability Pay?

Temporary partial disability (TPD) may be owed when you return to light duty or another job while recovering but earn less than you would have earned in your pre-injury occupation.

Illinois generally calculates TPD as:

TPD calculation example

• Pre-injury weekly earnings: $1,200
• Current gross light-duty earnings: $800
• Difference: $400
• $400 × 66⅔% = $266.67 per week in TPD

The worker in that example would receive the $800 light-duty paycheck from the employer and approximately $266.67 in TPD, assuming the statutory calculation applies as shown.

If light duty pays the same as the worker would otherwise earn, there usually is no temporary wage-loss benefit because there is no pay gap. But TPD may be missed when the hourly rate stays the same and the worker loses overtime opportunities or hours. Compare gross weekly earnings—not merely the hourly rate—and keep every pay stub.

Our Illinois light-duty guide explains work restrictions, job offers, and what happens when the employer says it can accommodate your doctor’s limits.

How Much Does Workers’ Comp Pay During Vocational Rehabilitation?

Maintenance is an income benefit associated with vocational rehabilitation. It often becomes important after a doctor imposes permanent restrictions and the worker cannot return to the former job.

Section 8(a) of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act says the maintenance benefit must be not less than the worker’s TTD rate. Appropriate costs and expenses incidental to the vocational-rehabilitation program may also be covered.

Depending on the case, vocational rehabilitation may include:

• vocational assessment and counseling;
• a supervised job search;
• retraining or education;
• job-placement assistance; and
• other reasonable steps toward suitable work.

Maintenance is different from TTD. TTD applies during temporary incapacity. Maintenance supports an appropriate rehabilitation process when permanent restrictions prevent a return to the former work and vocational services are appropriate.

If your doctor has issued permanent restrictions, read our guide to what happens next in an Illinois workers’ comp case.

Does Illinois Workers’ Comp Pay Medical Bills?

Yes. Illinois workers’ compensation may pay reasonable and necessary medical care required to cure or relieve the effects of a compensable work injury. Covered care can include:

• emergency treatment and office visits;
• specialist care;
• X-rays, MRIs, EMGs, and other diagnostic testing;
• physical or occupational therapy;
• injections and prescription medication;
• surgery and hospitalization; and
• reasonable follow-up and rehabilitation care.

For covered care, the injured worker ordinarily should not be responsible for ordinary health-insurance copays or deductibles. Disputes still arise over whether treatment is work-related, reasonable, necessary, within the permitted provider chain, or properly documented.

If surgery has been denied, start with our guide on what to do when workers’ comp denies surgery in Illinois. For disputes involving medical necessity, our updated guide explains the 2026 Illinois 90-day IME and utilization-review changes.

Some serious claims involve expensive long-term treatment rather than a conventional operation. For example, read when Illinois workers’ comp may have to pay for a spinal cord stimulator trial and implant.

Does Workers’ Comp Pay a Settlement or Permanent-Disability Benefits?

Many Illinois workers’ compensation claims eventually involve permanent-disability benefits, but a cash settlement is not automatic. The type and amount depend on the medical outcome and the effect of the injury on the worker’s body and earning capacity.

Permanent partial disability

Scheduled PPD and person-as-a-whole awards generally use a rate equal to 60% of AWW, subject to the applicable statutory minimum and maximum. The final amount also depends on the number of statutory weeks and the percentage of loss of use established by agreement or the evidence.

Wage differential

If permanent restrictions prevent a return to the former occupation and the worker earns or can earn less in suitable employment, wage-differential benefits are generally based on 66⅔% of the difference between the pre-injury earning amount and the post-injury earning amount or capacity, subject to the Act’s limitations.

For accidental injuries on or after September 1, 2011, a wage-differential award generally continues until the worker reaches age 67 or for five years after the award becomes final, whichever is later. Older injury dates follow different duration rules.

Permanent total disability

If the worker is permanently unable to engage in reasonably stable employment, permanent total disability may pay ongoing weekly benefits generally based on 66⅔% of AWW, subject to statutory minimums, maximums, and applicable adjustments.

A diagnosis by itself does not determine settlement value. Surgery, permanent restrictions, return-to-work ability, future care, wages, vocational evidence, and disputed causation can change the result substantially. A claim involving an implanted device or other major future care also requires careful analysis of whether medical rights will remain open or be closed.

Use our Illinois workers’ comp settlement chart as a starting point, then read our full guide to what an Illinois workers’ comp case may be worth. If your question is when the process ends and when money is paid, see our guide to Illinois workers’ comp settlement timing.

What Does Illinois Workers’ Comp Pay After a Work-Related Death?

When a covered work accident or occupational disease causes or contributes to a worker’s death, Illinois law may provide several separate benefits. These can include weekly payments to qualifying survivors, payment of work-related medical expenses incurred before death, and a statutory burial-expense payment.

The starting weekly death-benefit formula is generally 66⅔% of the deceased worker’s average weekly wage, subject to the minimum and maximum applicable to the injury date. For injury dates from July 15, 2026 through January 14, 2027, the maximum weekly death-benefit rate is $2,045.63. In surviving-spouse and qualifying-child cases under Section 7(a), the statewide minimum for that period is $767.11. Claims involving partial dependency may be paid proportionally.

The first statutory category generally includes a surviving spouse and qualifying children. A child enrolled full time in an accredited educational institution may remain eligible until age 25. When a qualifying child is physically or mentally incapable of regular and substantial gainful employment, payments may continue for the duration of the incapacity. If no spouse or qualifying child is entitled, certain parents or other relatives may qualify if they prove the dependency required by Section 7.

Public Act 104-0792 increased the separate burial-expense payment from $8,000 to $10,000 effective August 7, 2026. The Act permits payment to a surviving spouse, another dependent, next of kin, or the person or organization that incurred the burial expense. An accident or exposure predating the amendment may require a separate effective-date analysis.

Can death benefits be settled for a lump sum?

Death benefits ordinarily are paid in installments and may continue for years, depending on the beneficiaries and facts. In some cases, the parties negotiate a lump-sum resolution based partly on the present value of projected future checks. Neither side is required to agree to a voluntary settlement.

If the family proves the claim at an IWCC hearing, the Commission can award the statutory benefits payable over the applicable period. That permits beneficiaries to receive the awarded benefit stream without voluntarily accepting a negotiated present-value discount. A hearing involves proof and risk, but sometimes trying the case is preferable to discounting years of benefits merely to obtain a lump sum.

Can a family also have a third-party wrongful death case?

Yes, depending on who caused the fatal accident. For example, the family of an employee killed by another driver while traveling for work may have both a workers’ compensation death claim and a case against the at-fault driver or trucking company. A worker killed after falling from improperly secured scaffolding may also have a claim against a general contractor, subcontractor, property owner, equipment supplier, or another responsible company.

Workers’ compensation generally replaces an ordinary negligence lawsuit against the direct employer, but it does not necessarily protect an outside company or person that caused the death. A separate wrongful-death or survival case may provide damages that workers’ compensation does not, although the workers’ compensation carrier may have a statutory lien that must be addressed. See our comparison of Illinois workers’ compensation and third-party claims.

Fatal claims require careful analysis of the beneficiaries, wage rate, medical cause of death, payment period, present value, settlement terms, and every possible third-party claim. Read our complete guide to Illinois workers’ compensation death benefits.

How Is Average Weekly Wage Calculated in Illinois?

Average weekly wage (AWW) drives TTD and many other benefit calculations. A small AWW error can repeat across months of checks and affect a later award.

The basic 52-week rule

Section 10 generally begins with the worker’s actual earnings in the employment during the 52 weeks ending with the last full pay period before the injury. The statute then applies different divisor rules depending on how long the worker was employed and whether significant time was lost.

• Worked the full period without significant lost time: the usual starting point is qualifying earnings divided by 52.
• Lost five or more calendar days: the statute may require the lost time to be deducted from the divisor.
• Employed fewer than 52 weeks: qualifying earnings generally are divided by the weeks and parts of weeks in which wages were actually earned.
• Very short or casual employment: the wages of a comparable employee doing the same work may become relevant.
• Concurrent jobs: wages from another employer may count when the employer responsible for the claim knew about the concurrent employment before the injury.

Does overtime count in AWW?

The statute says “overtime” and bonuses are excluded from the default calculation, but that is not the end of the analysis. Illinois appellate decisions distinguish voluntary premium overtime from hours that were scheduled, required, and effectively part of the worker’s regular employment. In a qualifying case, required scheduled hours may be included at the appropriate rate. Likewise, incentive compensation earned as a contractual payment for work performed may be treated differently from a discretionary bonus. Read more here for our complete guide to overtime in Illinois Workers’ Compensation average weekly wage calculation.

That makes the underlying proof important: schedules, collective-bargaining agreements, payroll codes, testimony about whether the hours were mandatory, and evidence showing whether the payment was earned for work actually performed.

Common AWW mistakes to investigate

• dividing by 52 even though the worker was employed for fewer weeks;
• counting weeks or parts of weeks that Section 10 requires to be removed;
• omitting a qualifying concurrent job the employer knew about;
• excluding required scheduled hours without examining whether they were part of regular employment;
• misclassifying earned incentive compensation as a discretionary bonus;
• leaving out shift differentials or other qualifying earnings; or
• using a wage statement that does not match the worker’s pay stubs.

An AWW calculation is evidence-driven. Collect the 52 weeks of wage records, pay stubs, schedules, union documents, and proof of concurrent employment before assuming the carrier’s number is right.

What Changed Under the 2026 Illinois Workers’ Comp Law?

Public Act 104-0792 took effect on August 7, 2026. It did not change the ordinary 66⅔% TTD formula, the TPD formula, or the current benefit-rate tables. It changed portions of the process for disputing medical treatment and increased the burial-expense payment.

When an employer asks a Section 12 examiner to address the reasonableness and necessity of proposed or provided medical services instead of using utilization review, the examination and report must be provided to the employee or representative and the treating health care professional within the statutory 90-day period. The period begins when the employer receives the medical records from the treating health care professional requesting the medical service. The examiner addressing medical necessity must be board-certified in the same specialty as the treating health care professional.

Failure to comply creates a rebuttable presumption concerning additional compensation under Section 16 and Section 19(l). The rule does not say that every late report automatically authorizes treatment, and its text specifically addresses an examination of the reasonableness and necessity of medical services. Our complete guide explains the new Illinois 90-day medical-necessity IME rule.

For related background, see our articles about Illinois workers’ comp IMEs and IME doctors versus treating doctors.

Real Illinois Result: Medical Bills and TTD Are Separate Benefits

A McHargue & Jones trial result illustrates what a disputed workers’ compensation award may include. In a back-injury case handled by attorney Adam Rosner, the employer relied on an IME to dispute the need for surgery and whether the condition was related to work. After trial, the arbitrator ruled for the injured worker.

The award included:

• authorization for the back surgery;
• $26,774.88 in medical bills; and
• $15,092.96 in TTD benefits, less an applicable credit.

This was not simply a “settlement amount.” It shows that medical treatment and lost-wage benefits are separate parts of a claim and may both need to be proved when the carrier disputes liability. Read about this case and another surgery result in our article on two Illinois workers’ compensation trial wins.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every workers’ compensation claim depends on its own facts, medical evidence, wage records, testimony, and defenses.

What Should You Check if Your Workers’ Comp Payment Seems Wrong?

1. Confirm the accident-date rate period. Do not compare your check with the maximum for a different accident date.
2. Get the wage statement. Compare it with your pay stubs, W-2 records, schedule, and proof of any concurrent job.
3. Recalculate AWW under Section 10. Check the divisor, lost time, short employment, required scheduled hours, incentive pay, and concurrent employment.
4. Identify the benefit type. TTD, TPD, maintenance, PPD, wage differential, and PTD use different rules.
5. Compare every payment. Keep check stubs, direct-deposit records, and a calendar of missed work.
6. Review the medical basis for any cutoff. Ask whether the carrier relied on an IME, utilization review, an MMI opinion, a light-duty offer, or a causation denial.

If a check is late rather than incorrectly calculated, see what to do when an Illinois workers’ comp check is late.

Frequently Asked Questions About Illinois Workers’ Comp Pay

What percentage of my wages does Illinois workers’ comp pay?

TTD is generally 66⅔% of AWW, subject to statutory minimums and maximums. TPD is generally 66⅔% of the qualifying difference between pre-injury earning capacity and current gross earnings. Scheduled PPD generally uses a 60% AWW rate. The correct formula depends on the benefit.

What is the maximum weekly workers’ comp payment in Illinois for 2026?

For accident dates from July 15, 2026 through January 14, 2027, the IWCC lists a maximum TTD rate of $2,045.63 per week. Different accident dates use different rates, and other benefit categories may have different maximums.

Does workers’ comp pay my full salary?

Usually not. TTD generally pays two-thirds of AWW, subject to minimums and maximums. Because covered workers’ compensation benefits generally are not treated like ordinary taxable wages, the difference in take-home income may be smaller than the difference between the gross numbers, but individual tax circumstances vary.

Does workers’ comp pay medical bills in addition to weekly checks?

Yes, when the care is reasonable, necessary, work-related, and otherwise covered by the Act. Medical benefits and wage-loss benefits are separate. A worker may receive both during the same claim.

Do I receive workers’ comp while working light duty?

You may receive TPD if suitable light duty pays less than the amount you otherwise would have earned. If there is no wage loss, there ordinarily is no TPD. If your employer cannot provide suitable work within temporary restrictions, TTD may remain at issue.

Does overtime count toward average weekly wage?

Not automatically. Section 10 excludes overtime from the default calculation, but Illinois decisions distinguish voluntary overtime from required scheduled hours that were part of regular employment. The evidence must show how the hours were scheduled, whether they were mandatory, and how they were paid.

Can wages from a second job count?

They may count when the worker had concurrent employment and the employer responsible for the claim knew about that employment before the injury. Documentation and employer knowledge are important.

Will every Illinois workers’ comp case end in a settlement?

No. A worker can receive medical and weekly benefits without a settlement, and the carrier is not required to make a voluntary settlement offer in every case. Settlement usually should not be evaluated until the medical outcome, work restrictions, and future needs are sufficiently clear.

What does Illinois workers’ comp pay when a worker dies?

Qualifying survivors generally may receive weekly benefits based on 66⅔% of the worker’s average weekly wage, subject to the applicable statutory minimum, maximum, dependency, and duration rules. Work-related medical expenses incurred before death and a separate $10,000 burial-expense payment may also be covered. A fatal accident caused by an outside person or company may support a separate third-party wrongful-death claim.

Is “workman’s comp” different from workers’ compensation?

No. “Workman’s comp,” “workmans comp,” and “workers’ comp” are commonly used to describe the same Illinois workers’ compensation system.

Primary Sources and Attorney Review

This guide was reviewed by Illinois workers’ compensation attorney Matthew C. Jones and is based on the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, the 2026 amendment, and official benefit information. Primary sources include:

• 820 ILCS 305/7 — death-benefit beneficiaries, duration, and payment rules
• 820 ILCS 305/8 — medical, TTD, TPD, maintenance, and permanent-disability benefits
• 820 ILCS 305/10 — average weekly wage
• Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission benefit rates
• ArcelorMittal Steel v. IWCC — scheduled overtime and incentive compensation
• Public Act 104-0792 — 2026 medical-review and burial-expense amendments
• IRS Publication 525 — workers’ compensation and taxable income

Benefit rates and laws can change. Confirm the rate for the accident date and obtain legal advice about the facts of an individual claim.

Get a Free Review of Your Illinois Workers’ Comp Benefits

If your checks are too low, late, stopped, or based on wages that do not look right, McHargue & Jones can review the calculation and the larger claim. We also handle denied treatment, IME disputes, light-duty problems, permanent restrictions, settlement questions, and death-benefit claims for families throughout Illinois.

Start Your Free Case Review Call (312) 739-0000

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