Synopsis: AS WE ARE NOW IN 2025—IL WC BENEFIT RATES STILL SPIRAL HIGHER??— SHAWN BIERY’S UPDATED IL WC RATE SHEETS AVAILABLE FOR ACCURATE WC RATES AND RESERVING!!! 

 

Editor’s comment: The IWCC has posted a new max TTD rate of almost $2,000 per week going into 2025 and max PPD RATE is growing higher, at $1,045.92.

 

FYI, Illinois WC rates have updated again so please be aware of the New IL WC Rates or your claims handling will suffer & penalties may ensue. Please also note that the IL State Min Wage also did rise another dollar on New Year’s Day, 2025. On January 1, 2025, the minimum wage in Illinois increased to $15 per hour and $9 per hour for tipped workers. This is the minimum wage for workers 18 years and older, or workers under 18 who work more than 650 hours in a calendar year—this is important in IL WC wage differential claims.

 

The Illinois WC system still appears to have some of the highest max rates in the entire country. If you look online at https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0452150045#c16, you may note our IL WC rates are double or more than our sister States and because of the statutory increases built into the IL WC Act, this anti-business disparity will only increase. It clearly appears our IL WC Rates are going up much faster than inflation.

 

Email Marissa at mpatel@keefe-law.com to Get a Free and Complimentary Email or Hard Copy of Shawn R. Biery’s Updated IL WC Rate-Sheet! You can also send any questions to Shawn at sbiery@keefe-law.com

 

As we have mentioned in the past, since the 1980’s, the IL WC Act provides a formula which effectively insures no matter how poor the IL economy is doing, WC rates continue to climb.

 

As we indicate above, rising minimum wages will strip value from Illinois’ expensive wage loss differential claims. We feel reserves and settlements need to reflect the legislative boost to anyone who has any job. If you aren’t sure how this works, send a reply to Shawn at sbiery@keefe-law.com

 

We caution our readers to pay attention to the fact the IL WC statutory maximum PPD rate is $1,045.92. However, this rate is retroactive to July 1, 2024 even though published in January 2025. Since this rate did change retroactively from July 1, 2024 forward, you need to check your reserves for cases with accident dates post July 1, 2024!!!!.  If you don’t make the change, your reserves will be incorrect–if this isn’t clear, send a reply.

 

The current TTD weekly maximum has risen to $1,936.86. An IL worker who earns over $2,905.29 per week or $151,075.08 per year will hit the new IL WC maximum TTD rate.

 

For WC Death Benefits: The new IL WC minimum still is well past the $900k floor for surviving widows/widowers. That amount is now 25 years of compensation or $726.34 per week x 52 weeks in a year x 25 years or $944,242!! The new maximum IL WC death benefit is over $2.5 million at the max over 25 years of benefits, plus burial benefits of $8K. IL WC death benefits are paid for 1,300 weeks—in contrast, IN WC death benefits are paid for 500 weeks.

 

IL WC death benefits also come with annual COLA increases which we feel can potentially make Illinois the highest in the U.S. for WC death claims—again if you aren’t sure about this issue, send a reply to Shawn. It is also possible to settle IL WC death benefits for a discounted lump sum—again, if you have interest, send a reply to Shawn.

 

The best way to make sense of all of this is to get Shawn Biery’s colorful, updated and easy-to-understand IL WC Rate Sheet.  If you want just one or a dozen or more, simply send a reply to Marissa at mpatel@keefe-law.com  AND you can also send any questions to Shawn at sbiery@keefe-law.com    

 

We appreciate your thoughts and comments. Please post them on our award-winning blog.

 

 

Synopsis: Disability no longer equates to Discounted Pay In Illinois; this change can impact minimum TTD and PPD rates for such claims. Researched and written by John P. Campbell, Jr., JD

Editor’s Comment: Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed off on a law which will prohibit IL employers from paying less than the minimum wage to workers with disabilities. While well-intended, it may have unforeseen consequences.

Section 14(c) of the FLSA authorizes employers, after receiving a certificate from the Wage and Hour Division, to pay subminimum wages – wages less than the Federal minimum wage – to workers who have disabilities for the work being performed. Organizations receiving the exemption are allowed to pay a “commensurate wage” based on the worker’s individual productivity in proportion to the wage and productivity of workers who do not have disabilities but are performing the same or similar work. In essence, the rule appreciates an adjustment in wages where disabilities may affect productive capacity, such as blindness, mental illness, developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy etc.

While proffered as an equity issue to offer fair wages to the disabled, those opposed to the bill point out that the disabled may be pushed out of the workforce entirely if minimum wage laws are enforced. Some organizations who employ disabled workers as part of their business model, as well as people with family members participating in them, cautioned this new law may drive them out of business. Illinois has almost 60 employers operating under the federal exemption. Those programs employ about 2,500 people, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. If those businesses closed, or the disabled workers are replaced due to equal pay compulsion, it would defeat the well-intended purpose of the law.

To remedy this concern, the bill creates a transition grant program designed to provide financial support for organizations to continue employing people with disabilities while paying them at least the state minimum wage. It also establishes a task force to oversee the transition.

Money for the transition program would come from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ line item for transforming the state’s developmental and intellectual disability system. That line item includes $20 million for various programs for the current fiscal year, but lawmakers and advocates had previously discussed using $2 million to fund the transition grant program.

The impact on the workers’ compensation industry should be relatively moderate, appreciating an increase in wages and therefore benefit rates for qualified workers under this program.

We appreciate your thoughts and comments. Please post them on our award-winning blog.