Workers' Compensation: Employer Benefits
Occupational Injury Leave
- Provides the injured employee with 100 percent of his/her regular rate of pay in lieu of workers’ compensation benefits.
- Available to employees who are injured in the line of duty as a result of a bodily injury sustained by an inmate, client, patient, resident, youth or student, and is limited to specific agencies. You may refer to the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Administrative Code or your union contract for specific information.
- Benefits are limited to a maximum number of hours determined by your bargaining unit, or for non-bargaining unit employees, 960 hours.
- If your occupational injury leave benefits are exhausted, you may be eligible to receive lost time benefits from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC). You and your attending physician will need to file a Request for Temporary Total Compensation (Form C-84).
- Bargaining unit employees may grieve a denied claim and should refer to the grievance procedure in the union contract.
- Non-bargaining unit employees do not have grievance rights.
- Payments for occupational injury leave are included in your bi-weekly pay.
Filing a Claim
- You must file an Accident or Illness Report. You may use form ADM 4303 or an agency-specific claim form.
- You also must complete and file an Occupational Injury Leave Application (ADM 4743) and have your medical provider complete the ADM 4721 Form. Both of these should be submitted to your agency.
- Note that there are submission deadlines; non-bargaining unit employees have 20 days, bargaining unit employees should refer to their bargaining contract.
- If there is not enough information to approve your claim, you may be asked for additional information either by your agency or the third party administrator. This information should be submitted to your personnel officer.
- Leave time may be used to receive wages while waiting for the occupational injury leave claim to be approved. If approved, your leave time will be reinstated.
Disability Advancement
- Available only if the BWC denies your claim for workers’ compensation benefits and you are appealing the decision. If you do not intend to appeal, you may file for disability benefits within 20 days of the denial order.
- To file for disability advancement, complete the disability application and submit it and your denial order to your personnel office within 20 days of notification of denial.
- Payments are subject to the same two-week waiting period as disability leave benefits.
- You may receive the advancement for a maximum of 12 weeks.
- If your workers’ compensation claim is approved through the appeal process or by a settlement, you will be required to pay back all of the money that has been advanced, regardless of the amount received from the BWC or the settlement.
Leave Buy Back
- Some bargaining unit employees have the option of buying back leave time that was used while waiting for a workers’ compensation claim to be approved. See your bargaining unit contract to determine your eligibility.
- A wage advancement agreement is a contract between you and your employer that states the amount of leave time that you will buy back.
- You may buy leave time back either with or without a wage advancement agreement.
With a Wage Advancement Agreement
If you complete an agreement, you will be permitted to use your leave time (including sick leave) while waiting for your workers’ compensation claim to be approved. Under this agreement, you must use your BWC payments to buy back the leave up to the amount you receive from the BWC. The maximum amount of time that you can buy back is 12 weeks.
Without a Wage Advancement Agreement
If you do not file a wage advancement agreement, you may use leave time while you are waiting for your workers’ compensation claim to be approved; however, the BWC will not pay over any period in which you used sick leave to receive wages. Buy backs include vacation, personal and compensatory time and are limited to a maximum of 12 weeks.
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