§ 65-05.1-06.1 — Rehabilitation award

North Dakota § 65-05.1-06.1

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 65: Workforce Safety and Insurance
• Ch. 65-05.1: Rehabilitation Services

Text

1. Within sixty days of receiving the final vocational report, the organization shall issue a
notice of decision under section 65-01-16 detailing the employee's entitlement to
disability and vocational rehabilitation services.
2. If the appropriate priority option is short-term or long-term training, the vocational
rehabilitation award must be within the following terms:

a. For the employee's lost time, and in lieu of further disability benefits, the
organization shall award a rehabilitation allowance. The rehabilitation allowance
must be limited to the amount and purpose specified in the award, and must be
equal to the disability and dependent benefits the employee was receiving, or
was entitled to receive, prior to the award.
b. The rehabilitation allowance must include, as chosen by the employee, an
additional thirty percent of the rehabilitation allowance for expenses associated
with maintaining a second domicile or for travel associated with attendance at a
school or training institution when it is necessary for the employee to travel at
least twenty-five miles [40.23 kilometers] one way. Travel must be calculated from
the employee's residence to the school or training institution. If it is necessary for
an employee to travel less than twenty-five miles one way to a school or training
institution, the employee may qualify for an additional rehabilitation allowance as
determined in accordance with the following schedule:
Percentage increase in
Round-trip mileage rehabilitation allowance
Under 10 miles 0
10 to 30 miles 10
31 to 49 miles 20
Travel must be calculated from the employee's residence to the school or training
institution.
c. The rehabilitation allowance must be limited to one hundred four weeks except in
cases of catastrophic injury, in which case additional rehabilitation benefits may
be awarded in the discretion of the organization. Catastrophic injury includes:
(1) Paraplegia; quadriplegia; severe closed head injury; total blindness in both
eyes; or amputation of an arm proximal to the wrist or a leg proximal to the
ankle, caused by the compensable injury, which renders an employee
permanently and totally disabled without further vocational retraining
assistance; or
(2) Those employees the organization so designates, in its sole discretion,
provided that the organization finds the employee to be permanently and
totally disabled without further vocational retraining assistance. There is no
appeal from an organization decision to designate, or fail to designate, an
employee as catastrophically injured under this subsection.
d. Notwithstanding the one hundred four-week limit of subdivision c to facilitate the
completion of a retraining program, the organization may award a rehabilitation
extension allowance that may not exceed twenty weeks.
e. The rehabilitation award must include the cost of books, tuition, fees, and
equipment, tools, or supplies required by the educational institution. The award
may not exceed the cost of attending a public college or university in the state in
which the employee resides, provided an equivalent program exists in the public
college or university.
f. If the employee successfully concludes the rehabilitation program, the
organization may make, in its sole discretion, additional awards for actual
relocation expenses to move the household to the locale where the injured
employee has actually located work.
g. If the employee successfully concludes the rehabilitation program, the
organization may make, in its sole discretion, an additional award, not to exceed
two months' disability benefit, to assist the employee with work search.
h. If the employee successfully concludes the rehabilitation program, the employee
is not eligible for further vocational retraining or total disability benefits unless the
employee establishes a significant change in medical condition attributable to the
work injury which precludes the employee from performing the work for which the
employee was trained, or any other work for which the employee is suited and
has sustained an actual wage loss caused by the significant change in the

compensable medical condition. The organization may waive this section in
cases of catastrophic injury defined by subdivision c.
i. If the employee successfully concludes the rehabilitation program, the employee
remains eligible to receive partial disability benefits, as follows:
(1) Beginning the date at which the employee completes retraining, until the
employee acquires and performs substantial gainful employment, the partial
disability benefit is sixty-six and two-thirds percent of the difference between
the injured employee's average weekly wage, and the employee's
wage-earning capacity after retraining, as measured by the average wage in
the employee's occupation, according to criteria established by job service
North Dakota in its statewide labor market survey, or such other criteria the
organization, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. The average weekly
wage must be determined on the date the employee completes retraining.
The benefit continues until the employee acquires substantial gainful
employment.
(2) Beginning the date at which the employee acquires substantial gainful
employment, the partial disability benefit is sixty-six and two-thirds percent
of the difference between the injured employee's average weekly wage, and
the injured employee's wage-earning capacity after retraining, as
determined under paragraph 1, or the injured employee's actual wage
earnings after retraining, whichever is higher.
(3) The partial disability benefit payable under paragraphs 1 and 2 may not
exceed the limitation on partial disability benefits contained in section
65-05-10.
(4) The partial disability benefits paid under paragraphs 1 and 2 may not
together exceed one year's duration.
(5) For purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, "substantial gainful employment"
means full-time bona fide work, for a remuneration, other than make-work.
"Full-time work" means employment for twenty-eight or more hours per
week, on average.
(6) The organization may waive the one-year limit on the duration of partial
disability benefits, in cases of catastrophic injury under subdivision c.
3. If the appropriate priority option is return to the same or modified position, or to a
related position, the organization shall determine whether the employee is eligible to
receive partial disability benefits pursuant to section 65-05-10. In addition, the
organization, when appropriate, shall make an additional award for actual relocation
expenses to move the household to the locale where the injured employee has
actually located work.
4. If the appropriate priority option is subdivision e or f of subsection 4 of section
65-05.1-01 or subsection 6 of section 65-05.1-01, to assist with work search the
organization may award an additional award. The additional award under this
subsection is awarded at the organization's sole discretion and may not exceed an
amount equal to two months of the employee's total disability benefits calculated under
section 65-05-09.