Workers’ compensation pays for necessary medical treatment, loss of wages during a period of disability, and compensation for permanent disability or disfigurement. For example, if an employee is injured and unable to work for more than seven days, he or she is eligible to be compensated at the rate of 66 2/3% of the employee’s average weekly wage, limited to 100% of the State’s average weekly wage as established each year by the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. Awards are usually made in terms of the number of weeks of compensation to which the employee is entitled based on the extent of the disabling injury.
In South Carolina, the disability or death of an employee resulting from an occupational disease is treated as an injury by accident, and the employee, or in case of death, the deceased’s dependents, may be entitled to compensation.
In addition to occupational diseases, injury from harmful exposures to ionizing radiation is also defined for particular attention under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
