Workers' comp weekly benefit in Louisiana: how much it pays

Temporary total disability (TTD) indemnity benefits can pay two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages, up to $903 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027).

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Deadlines are strict. If you are near one, call the state agency or free help today.

Weekly benefit in Louisiana

What it pays: Two-thirds of your gross (before-tax) wages
Maximum: $903 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027)
Minimum: $241 a week (September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027)
Minimum rule: If two-thirds of your wages is less than $241, you receive $241 a week. If your weekly wages are less than $241, you receive your actual weekly wages.
Applies to: Injuries on or after September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027 (the limits depend on the date of the accident and do not change later)
How your wages are figured: If you are paid by the hour and work 40 hours or more, your weekly wage is your hourly rate times the average hours you actually worked in the four full weeks before the accident, or 40 hours, whichever is greater. If you were offered 40 hours but chose to work fewer, it is your average weekly earnings over those four weeks. Part-time workers use their actual average hours. Wages include some employer-provided benefits; other rules apply to salaried, seasonal and other workers.
How long it can last: Temporary total disability is paid while you cannot do any work at all. It stops when your condition has improved so that the extent of your disability can be reliably decided and you no longer need regular, continuing treatment by a doctor. If you return to work but earn less than 90% of your pre-injury wage, you may receive supplemental earnings benefits instead (up to 520 weeks).

Temporary total disability pays sixty-six and two-thirds percent (two-thirds) of your average weekly wage. For injuries from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027, the most you can get is $903 a week and the least is $241 a week (or your actual wages, if lower). For injuries from September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026, the limits are $877 and $234. The limits change every September 1 and are set by the date of your accident.

Law: La. R.S. 23:1021(13), 23:1202, 23:1221(1), (3)

Source: laworks.net

Changes in 2024–2026

The weekly limits rose to $903 maximum and $241 minimum for injuries from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027 (from $877 and $234 a year earlier). Mileage reimbursement is 76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026. Act 766 of 2026 rewrites the medical fee schedule rules, sends medical billing disputes to the OWCA medical services section, creates a statewide workers' compensation medical bill database, and requires electronic medical billing from July 1, 2027; OWCA is still writing the rules to carry it out.

Law: SB 408, signed June 3, 2026

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Sources

The official sources for Louisiana are listed on the Louisiana page.

National rules that may also matter

Taxes, Social Security, leave and the ADA

Taxes on workers' compensation Workers' compensation benefits for a work injury or illness are fully exempt from federal income tax when they are paid under a workers' compensation law. Pay you get for doing light-duty work is taxable as wages. If your workers' compensation reduces your Social Security benefits, that part may be taxable as Social Security benefits. Federal employees: FECA compensation is not taxable, but continuation of pay (up to 45 days) and sick leave pay while a claim is decided are taxed as wages.

Law: IRS Publication 525 (2025), Workers' Compensation; 26 U.S.C. 104(a)(1)

Social Security disability and workers' compensation If you get Social Security disability benefits and workers' compensation at the same time, Social Security may reduce its benefit. The reduction applies when your Social Security benefits (including benefits paid to your family on your record) plus your workers' compensation are more than 80% of your 'average current earnings', or more than your family's Social Security benefit before the reduction, if that is higher. A lump-sum workers' compensation settlement can also be counted. The reduction stops when you reach full retirement age. It does not apply when the state law paying your workers' compensation reduces that benefit instead for people on Social Security, if that state rule was in place on February 18, 1981.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 424a(a), (b), (d); SSA POMS DI 52101.001, DI 52105.001

Job-protected leave (FMLA) The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, and keeps your group health coverage. It covers private employers with 50 or more employees in at least 20 workweeks of this year or last year, all public agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools. You are eligible if you worked there at least 12 months, worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave, and work at a site with at least 50 employees within 75 miles. Time off for a work injury can count as FMLA leave if your employer designates it. If your doctor clears you only for light duty, you may turn down a light-duty job and stay on unpaid FMLA leave until it runs out, but you may lose workers' compensation payments.

Law: 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.; 29 CFR 825.207(e); DOL Wage and Hour Division, Family and Medical Leave Act

Disability rights when you go back to work (ADA) Not every work injury is a 'disability' under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If yours is, an employer with 15 or more employees may have to make a reasonable accommodation, unless it would cause undue hardship, for example by moving minor (marginal) duties you cannot do to other workers or changing your schedule. The employer does not have to remove the essential functions of the job.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 12111(5)(A); EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Workers' Compensation and the ADA (Notice 915.002)

In these states, the state reduces some or all types of workers' compensation for people who also get Social Security disability, so Social Security does not reduce its benefit for those payments.

States that reduce workers' comp when you also get Social Security disability: Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin.