H 4820

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 4820
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION 42-9-10, RELATING TO AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION FOR TOTAL DISABILITY UNDER
WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW, SO AS TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM WEEKLY AMOUNT TO ONE
HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS, and TO ESTABLISH A MECHANISM FOR PERIODIC
INFLATION-BASED INCREASES.
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section 42-9-10 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
42-9-10. (A) When the incapacity for
work resulting from an injury is total, the employer shall pay, or cause to be
paid, as provided in this chapter, to the injured employee during the total
disability a weekly compensation equal to sixty-six and two-thirds percent of
his average weekly wages, but not less than seventy-fiveone hundred fifty dollars a week,
beginning July 1, 2027, so long as this amount does not exceed his
average weekly salary; if this amount does exceed his average weekly salary,
the injured employee may not be paid, each week, less than his average weekly
salary. The injured employee may not be paid more each week than the average
weekly wage in this State for the preceding fiscal year. In no case may the
period covered by the compensation exceed five hundred weeks except as provided
in subsection (C).
    (B)
The loss of both hands, arms, shoulders, feet, legs, hips, or vision in both
eyes, or any two thereof, constitutes total and permanent disability to be
compensated according to the provisions of this section.
    (C)
Notwithstanding the five-hundred-week limitation prescribed in this section or
elsewhere in this title, any person determined to be totally and permanently
disabled who as a result of a compensable injury is a paraplegic, a
quadriplegic, or who has suffered physical brain damage is not subject to the
five-hundred-week limitation and shall receive the benefits for life.
    (D)
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 42-9-301, no total lump sum payment
may be ordered by the commission in any case under this section where the
injured person is entitled to lifetime benefits.
    (E)(1)
Before October 1, 2027, and every October first annually thereafter, the
commission shall increase the minimum compensation rate for the succeeding
calendar year by the same percentage as the annual increase to the state
maximum average weekly wage as defined in Section 42-1-50. The Department of
Employment and Workforce shall provide the commission, no later than August
first annually, the data required for calculation of the percentage change.
    (2) The commission shall publish a
notice of the adjusted minimum weekly compensation amount no later than January
first of each year and publish the notice on its internet website.
    (3) The commission may by regulation
adopt such rules as it considers necessary to implement the inflation
adjustment provisions of this subsection.
SECTION 2.  This act takes effect July 1, 2027,
and applies to injuries occurring on or after that date.
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This web page was last updated on December 17, 2025 at 01:55 PM