Temporary total disability pays you when your doctor says you cannot work at all. Temporary partial disability pays you when your doctor clears you for lighter work and your paycheck comes back smaller than it used to be.
Both are wage replacement benefits, both are meant to be temporary, and both end when your doctor decides you have recovered as much as you are going to. What separates them is how much they pay, and the insurance company decides which one you are on, which is why many injured workers watch their checks shrink without ever being told why. Workers’ compensation treats these as two different benefits, and the first step toward knowing whether you are being paid correctly is knowing which one you belong in.
What Is Temporary Total Disability?
Temporary total disability, usually shortened to TTD, is the benefit you receive when a work injury keeps you out of work completely. Your authorized doctor either writes you out of work entirely or writes restrictions your employer cannot accommodate, and the wage checks begin.
Georgia and Arizona both pay TTD at two thirds of your pre-injury wages, up to a limit the state sets. Neither state starts paying on day one. Both apply a short waiting period first, and both pay that waiting period back to you if you stay out of work long enough.
What Is Temporary Partial Disability?
Temporary partial disability, or TPD, is the benefit you receive when you are back on the clock but earning less because of your injury. A framer moved to answering phones, a warehouse picker limited to twenty-pound lifts and cut back to four days a week, or a driver taken off overtime because his restrictions cap him at eight hours would all fall into this group.
TPD does not replace your whole paycheck. It pays two thirds of the gap between what you used to earn and what you earn now. If your average weekly wage was $900 and light duty pays $600, the gap is $300, and your benefit covers two thirds of that gap rather than two thirds of your full wage. Moving from TTD to TPD almost always means a smaller check.
How Georgia Calculates TTD and TPD Benefits
Georgia sets these numbers by statute, and the rate that applies to you depends on the date of your accident.
| Benefit | How it is calculated | Weekly maximum | How long it can last |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTD | Two thirds of your average weekly wage | $800 for injuries on or after July 1, 2023 | Up to 400 weeks from the date of injury in a non-catastrophic claim |
| TPD | Two thirds of the gap between your old wage and your current wage | $533 for injuries on or after July 1, 2023 | Up to 350 weeks from the date of injury |
Your average weekly wage comes from the 13 weeks of earnings before the accident, and it should include your overtime and any second job you were working. Insurance companies do get that number wrong, and because every benefit you receive is built on top of it, one mistake there follows you through the entire claim. Georgia also applies a one-week waiting period, and you get that week paid if you stay out of work for at least 21 straight days. Claims the state designates as catastrophic are handled differently and can run well past the 400-week limit.
How Arizona Calculates TTD and TPD Benefits
Arizona works in months rather than weeks. TTD pays two thirds of your average monthly wage, which normally comes from your earnings in the 30 days before the injury. TPD pays two thirds of the difference between that pre-injury wage and what you are able to earn while you are on restrictions.
The Industrial Commission of Arizona sets a ceiling on the average monthly wage that can be used in the calculation, and it adjusts that ceiling every year under A.R.S. § 23-1041. For injuries in 2026 the ceiling is $6,131 a month, which puts the highest possible TTD payment at about $4,087 a month. The ceiling is fixed by the date you were injured, not by the date you get paid, so an injury in 2025 is still measured against the 2025 figure of $5,906.55. Arizona also applies a waiting period before wage benefits start, and it pays on a regular cycle instead of weekly.
Why Insurance Companies Move Injured Workers From TTD to TPD
The Georgia caps explain the incentive on their own. TTD is capped at $800 a week and TPD at $533, so the insurance company pays less the moment you are switched. A release to restricted work is what starts the switch.
Georgia puts a guardrail on it. When your authorized doctor releases you to work with restrictions on a claim that is not catastrophic, the insurer has to send you Form WC-104 within 60 days of that release before it can convert your benefits. Insurers miss that deadline, and when they do, courts have held they were not entitled to reduce the benefits. If you were switched to TPD and never received a WC-104, say so.
A light duty offer is not automatically bad for you. Going back to real, restricted work is often good for your recovery and good for your claim. What matters is whether the job you are handed matches the restrictions your doctor actually wrote. A job described as seated with no lifting, which in practice means six hours on your feet on a concrete floor, is not light duty, and taking it can cost you the benefit and set back your recovery at the same time. If the work goes past your restrictions, tell your doctor in writing as soon as it happens.
When Temporary Benefits End and a Settlement Begins
Temporary benefits stop when your treating doctor decides your condition has stabilized and more treatment will not improve it, a point called maximum medical improvement. Your case changes shape at that moment. The question is no longer what you lost last week but what the injury cost you permanently, which is where impairment ratings, permanent partial disability, and settlement talks come in.
Your wage checks often stop right around the time the first settlement offer arrives, which puts financial pressure on you at the moment the decision matters most.
How Cruz & Associates Helps With Workers’ Comp Wage Benefits
If your checks got smaller and nobody explained why, the cause is usually a classification change nobody asked you about, and it often only shows up when you hold two pay stubs side by side. You are allowed to ask why. You are also allowed to have someone ask for you.
Cruz & Associates has represented injured workers in Georgia and Arizona since 1989. Our team is 100% bilingual, the consultation is free, and we work on a No Win No Fee basis, so there is no fee unless we recover for you. We represent clients regardless of immigration status. Our Atlanta workers’ compensation attorneys and our Phoenix workers’ compensation attorneys will check your wage calculation, your classification, and the light duty job you were offered, and tell you whether the number on your check is the number you are owed.
We are available 24 hours a day, and we will come to you at the hospital or at home. Request a free consultation or call the office closest to you.
- Atlanta: (404) 444-1111
- Phoenix: (602) 777-6666
- Tucson: (520) 567-8000
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between TTD and TPD in workers’ comp?
TTD is paid when your injury keeps you out of work entirely, and it replaces two thirds of your pre-injury wage. TPD is paid when you return to work at lower earnings, and it replaces two thirds of the gap between your old wage and your new one.
How much does temporary total disability pay in Georgia?
Two thirds of your average weekly wage, capped at $800 a week for injuries on or after July 1, 2023, for up to 400 weeks in a non-catastrophic claim.
How much does temporary total disability pay in Arizona?
Two thirds of your average monthly wage, up to a maximum average monthly wage that the Industrial Commission of Arizona sets each year.
Can the insurance company move me from TTD to TPD?
Yes, usually by offering you a light duty job within your medical restrictions. If the job you are offered does not match the restrictions your doctor wrote, tell your doctor in writing and get the restrictions clarified before you accept it.
How long do temporary disability benefits last?
Until you reach maximum medical improvement, return to your full earnings, or hit the limit your state sets for that benefit.
