Acronym List for Workers’ Compensation
ADL: activities of daily living – your everyday activities
ALJ: Administrative Law Judge – judicial officer who decides workers’ comp cases
AOE/COE: Arising out of employment and occurring in the course of employment – injury must be work-related to be covered
AWL: actual wage loss – the precise amount of wages you didn’t earn because of an injury
AWW: average weekly wages – the average amount of wages you earned in the 52 weeks (one year) before your injury
CFS: chronic fatigue syndrome – severe feeling of tiredness that’s not improved by sleep or bed rest
COLA: Cost of living adjustment – change in the amount of workers’ comp benefits to adjust for changes in the cost of living
CRPS: complex regional pain syndrome – chronic or on-going sever pain, usually in an arm, hand, leg, or foot
CTS: carpal tunnel syndrome – injury to a nerve in the wrist
DoA: date of accident
DOI: date of injury
DVT: deep vein thrombosis – blood clots in deep veins, typically in the legs
DWC: division of workers’ compensation
E/C: employer/carrier – “carrier” is the insurance company providing workers’ comp insurance to the employer
FEC: future earning capacity – wages you’ll likely be able to earn after you return to work with or without effects of the injury
FL: functional limitation – a medical or health condition that hampers your ability to perform certain tasks
HCO: health care organization
IME: independent medical examination – examination conducted on you by a doctor chosen by your employer or the employer’s insurance carrier
LDP: last day paid
LDW: last day worked
LEC: loss of earning capacity – how much wages you can no longer earn as a result of your injury
LT: lost time – how much work time you missed because of your injury
NCCI: National Council on Compensation Insurance – database of workers’ compensation insurance information
ND: nonwork disability – injury or condition that’s not caused by or related to your work but hampers your ability to work
NEL: noneconomic loss – damages other than money or wages, such as “pain and suffering”
OCC: occupation – your job
OD: occupational disease – illness or disease caused by work-related conditions
ODNCR: occupational disease, notice, and causal relationship – what you need to show to make a workers’ compensation claim for an occupational disease (as opposed to a claim based on an injury)
PCR: prevention, compensation, and rehabilitation – the three goals of workers’ compensation laws
PD: permanent disability – disability or impairment that remains forever and impacts your ability to work
PPD: permanent partial disability – lifelong disability that prevents you from working at full capacity
P&S: permanent and stationary – the point where your medical condition has leveled out at the point where you’ll likely get no better or worse
PTD: permanent total disability – a lifelong disability that prevents you from working completely
RFC: residual functional capacity – what your able to do after an injury and after you’ve reached permanent and stationary status
RTW: return to work – usually a medical determination that you’re physically able to go back to work
SOL: statute of limitations – the time limit you have to file a legal claim or lawsuit, including a claim for workers’ comp benefits
SSDI: Social Security Disability Insurance – federally-provided benefits for certain disabled workers and their families
TD: temporary disability – disability or injury that won’t prevent you from returning to work forever
TPD: temporary partial disability – a disability or injury that doesn’t completely prevent you from working while recovering
TTD: temporary total disability – disability or injury that completely prevents you from working while recovering from a work-related injury
UI: unemployment insurance – temporary payments made to unemployed workers while they look for a new job
VR: program to help disabled or injured workers find a new job
WC: workers’ compensation
WCMSA: Workers’ Comp Medicare Set-Aside
WCRC: Workers’ Comp Review Contractor
WD: work disability – injury or medical condition that’s caused by or related to your job and hampers your ability to work