Workers' comp · OH
Ohio workers' comp calculator
Ohio pays a higher percentage during the first twelve weeks of a claim than afterward, and measures the wage differently in each stage.
Rules read on official Ohio pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 72%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,281
- from January 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- $427
- or the wage, if lower
- Waiting period
- 7 days
- paid back past 13 days
The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) pays temporary total (TT) compensation in two stages. For the first 12 weeks after the injury, the rate is 72% of the full weekly wage, the average of what you earned in the six weeks or seven days before you were hurt. After that, it drops to 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage over the prior 52 weeks. Either way, the weekly check for a 2026 injury cannot exceed $1,281, the statewide average weekly wage, and the minimum is $427, unless your wage itself is lower, in which case BWC pays the wage. A worker earning $1,100 a week receives $792 during the first stage. The first 7 days are paid only after 14 consecutive days off, and TT stops at maximum medical improvement, a return to work or a suitable job offer.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Ohio
$792
$3,432 a month · 72% of the wage, tax-free
| 72% of $1,100 | $792 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,281 / $427 |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 30 / 0 |
| Total for the time off | $3,394 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
Two rates, two wage averages
Ohio changes the percentage partway through the same disability. For twelve weeks, the BWC applies 72% to the full weekly wage (FWW), built from the six weeks or seven days before the injury, which usually captures current pay and recent overtime. From week thirteen, it applies two thirds to the average weekly wage (AWW), built from the 52 weeks before the injury. A Toledo machine operator with an FWW of $1,100 and an AWW of $1,050 receives $792 a week at first, then $700. Both figures are checked against the same ceiling of $1,281, the statewide average weekly wage for 2026, which an FWW reaches at about $1,779.
The calculator above keeps the 72% rate for the whole period you enter, so beyond twelve weeks it overstates the check. For the operator off twenty weeks, it shows $15,840; the real figure is lower, because the last eight weeks are paid at $700. Enter only the first twelve weeks, then price the rest at two thirds of your AWW.
Paperwork the BWC asks for
The BWC compensation rate chart is the reference for every figure here, and the bureau itself pays TT on the claims it insures. Payment depends on medical evidence: the physician of record, a BWC-certified provider, must send a Physician's Report of Work Ability (MEDCO-14) after every visit, and you file a Request for Temporary Total Compensation (C-84) for the first period and for each extension. Wage proof covers the 52 weeks before the injury, from every employer you had, through pay stubs, W-2s or the Wages-IW earnings statement.
The second week decides the first
The operator out ten days is paid only from the eighth day: $339. At fifteen days the first week is paid back and the total becomes $1,697. A delivery driver earning $500 receives $427, more than two thirds of his pay because of the floor; a worker whose wage is under the floor receives the wage itself. Workers who receive Social Security retirement benefits have a lower TT maximum: $854 a week in 2026 instead of $1,281.
When TT ends
Payments stop at maximum medical improvement, on a return to work or a release to the former job, when the employer offers work within the restrictions, or on incarceration or voluntary abandonment of employment. Ohio pays scheduled loss (SL) awards for loss of body parts at a weekly rate equal to the statewide AWW ($1,281 in 2026) for a set number of weeks (e.g. thumb 60 weeks = $76,860; hand 175 weeks = $224,175; leg 200 weeks = $256,200), and percentage permanent partial (%PP) awards for other permanent impairment, maximum $427 a week in 2026 (Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.57). For what a settlement adds, see how much workers’ comp pays; for comp income in a support case, the Ohio child support calculator.
The Ohio rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Ohio |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 72% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,281 |
| Weekly minimum | $427 |
| Applies to | injuries in calendar year 2026 (2026 statewide average weekly wage $1,281) |
| Waiting period | 7 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 13 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. Temporary total (TT) is 72% of the full weekly wage (average of earnings in the six weeks/seven days before injury) for the first 12 weeks, then 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage (52 weeks before injury); the weekly rate cannot exceed the statewide average weekly wage for the year of injury (BWC; Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.56). source
Waiting period. BWC does not pay TT for the first seven days of an injury until the worker has been unable to work for 14 or more consecutive calendar days; then the total number of days missed is paid. TT requires the injury to keep the worker off work for more than seven calendar days (BWC; Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.55). source
Duration. No fixed week cap stated by BWC; TT stops on return to work, release to the former position, suitable work offered by the employer, maximum medical improvement, working for any employer, incarceration, or voluntary abandonment of employment. source
Permanent disability. Ohio pays scheduled loss (SL) awards for loss of body parts at a weekly rate equal to the statewide AWW ($1,281 in 2026) for a set number of weeks (e.g. thumb 60 weeks = $76,860; hand 175 weeks = $224,175; leg 200 weeks = $256,200), and percentage permanent partial (%PP) awards for other permanent impairment, maximum $427 a week in 2026 (Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.57). source
Worth knowing in Ohio
- Ohio pays a higher temporary total rate at the start of a claim: 72% of the full weekly wage for the first 12 weeks, then 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage. source
- Workers who receive Social Security retirement benefits have a lower TT maximum: $854 a week in 2026 instead of $1,281. source
- The Disabled Workers' Relief Fund supplements permanent total disability benefits below an entry level of $503.26 a week ($2,186.80 a month) in 2026. source
- The doctor (physician of record) must be BWC-certified and must submit a Physician's Report of Work Ability (MEDCO-14) after every office visit while TT is paid. source