Workers' comp · VT
Vermont workers' comp calculator
Vermont sets its weekly maximum at one and a half times the average wage and raises long-running checks every July.
Rules read on official Vermont pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 66.67%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $1,914
- from July 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- $638
- floor
- Waiting period
- 3 days
- unpaid
Vermont pays temporary total disability at two thirds of the average weekly wage, computed from the 26 weeks before the injury, with earnings from concurrent employers combined. For injuries from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the Department of Labor sets the weekly maximum at $1,914, which is 150% of the state average compensation, and the minimum at $638, which is 50% of it. Workers whose average weekly wage is lower than the minimum receive 90% of that wage. On top of the benefit, the employer pays $20 a week for each dependent child under 21. A worker earning $1,200 receives $800; the maximum binds only above about $2,871. The first 3 days are not paid, the day of the accident counting as the first unless full wages were paid for it. After 26 weeks of benefits, the check is adjusted every July 1 to keep pace with the state wage.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Vermont
$733
$3,178 a month · 66.67% of the wage, tax-free
| 66.67% of $1,100 | $733 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $1,914 / $638 |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 27 / 3 |
| Total for the time off | $2,829 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Vermont Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
A ceiling few paychecks reach
21 V.S.A. § 601(18) fixes the maximum at 150% of the state average compensation, rounded up. The result for 2026-27, $1,914 a week on the Department of Labor’s annual rate table, means that a software developer in Burlington earning $2,500 receives the full two thirds of her pay, $1,667. The same table shows how far the cap has moved: injuries before July 1, 1986 are measured against a separate, lower maximum that still appears in its own column.
Ninety percent at the bottom
Below the minimum, Vermont does not pay a flat amount. Section 601(19) gives temporary disability recipients 90% of their average weekly wage when that wage is lower than $638. A nursing assistant in Rutland earning $560 receives $504. For permanent disability, the same worker would receive 100% of her wage instead.
Children and the 2028 cut
Each dependent child under 21 adds $20 a week, if no other injured worker already claims that child. A ski lift operator at Stowe earning $680 with two children receives $612 plus $40, $652 in all. The statute already contains the next version of that rule: from July 1, 2028, the allowance returns to $10 per child. The calculator leaves the allowance out, so add it yourself.
Three days, and a fourth to qualify
Section 642 excludes the first 3 days of total disability and contains no clause that pays them back later; the Department explains that a worker must be disabled four days or more to receive anything. The lift operator off three days receives $0; off ten days, $612. Insurers may stop payments only by filing a supported Form 27 with the worker and the Department, for instance on a return to work or at maximum medical improvement.
The July adjustment
TTD is adjusted on the first July 1 after 26 weeks of benefits and every July 1 thereafter so that it keeps the same ratio to the state average weekly wage (21 V.S.A. § 642(a)(3)); the 2026 adjustment multiplier is 1.043%. Permanent partial impairment is then paid for a number of weeks: After total disability ends, permanent partial impairment is paid at 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage (within the max/min) for a number of weeks equal to the whole-person impairment percentage x 330 weeks, rated under the AMA Guides, Fifth Edition (21 V.S.A. § 648(a)-(b)). For settlements, see how much workers’ comp pays.
The Vermont rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Vermont |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 66.67% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $1,914 |
| Weekly minimum | $638 |
| Applies to | July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 (maximum for injuries after June 30, 1986) |
| Waiting period | 3 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. Two-thirds of the employee's average weekly wages (21 V.S.A. § 642(a)(1)), plus $20.00 per week for each dependent child under 21 (§ 642(b)(1)). Maximum = 150% of the average compensation, minimum = 50%, each rounded to the next higher dollar (§ 601(18)-(19)). source
Waiting period. TTD is paid during the disability but not including the first three days, the day of the accident counting as the first day unless the employee received full wages for it (21 V.S.A. § 642(a)(1)). The Department states the worker must be disabled from work 4 days or more to obtain TTD. source
Duration. Payments continue during the disability and end when it ends (21 V.S.A. § 643); the insurer may discontinue on return to work, medical release, maximum medical improvement or non-cooperation by filing a supported Form 27. source
Permanent disability. After total disability ends, permanent partial impairment is paid at 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage (within the max/min) for a number of weeks equal to the whole-person impairment percentage x 330 weeks, rated under the AMA Guides, Fifth Edition (21 V.S.A. § 648(a)-(b)). source
Worth knowing in Vermont
- TTD is adjusted on the first July 1 after 26 weeks of benefits and every July 1 thereafter so that it keeps the same ratio to the state average weekly wage (21 V.S.A. § 642(a)(3)); the 2026 adjustment multiplier is 1.043%. source
- The dependent-child allowance is $20.00 per week per child under 21 until July 1, 2028, when the statute sets it back to $10.00 (21 V.S.A. § 642(b)(1)). source
- The average weekly wage is computed over the 26 weeks before the injury, and earnings from concurrent employers are combined (21 V.S.A. § 650(a)). source
- Vermont's maximum weekly compensation is set at 150% of the state average compensation (21 V.S.A. § 601(18)), so the 2026-27 maximum ($1,914.00) is three times the minimum ($638.00). source