Vermont § 648 - Permanent partial disability benefits

§ 648. Permanent partial disability benefits

• (a) Where the injury results in a partial impairment which is permanent and which does
  not result in permanent total disability, compensation shall be paid during the period
  of total disability, as provided in sections 642 and 643 of this title, and at the termination of total disability, the employer shall pay to the injured
  employee 66⅔ percent of the average weekly wage, computed as provided in section 650 of this title, subject to the maximum and minimum weekly compensation rates, for a period determined
  by multiplying the employee’s percentage of impairment of the whole person by 330
  weeks. The percentage of impairment to the whole person is the percentage of impairment
  to the particular body part, system, or function converted to the percentage of impairment
  to the whole person as provided in subsection (b) of this section. (b) Any determination of the existence and degree of permanent partial impairment shall
  be made only in accordance with the whole person determinations as set out in the
  Fifth Edition of the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent
  Impairment. In order to utilize any subsequent edition of the American Medical Association
  Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment or any other appropriate guides to
  the evaluation of permanent impairment, the Commissioner, in consultation with the
  Department of Labor Advisory Council, shall adopt a rule. The Commissioner shall adopt
  a supplementary schedule for injuries that are not rated by the impairment guide authorized
  for use by the Department to determine permanent disability. (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, for the
  purposes of determining the payment period for any permanent partial impairment to
  the spine, the percentage of impairment shall be determined in accordance with rules
  adopted by the Commissioner according to which an injury to the spine that is evaluated
  as a 60 percent impairment of the whole person shall provide 330 weeks of compensation. (d) An impairment rating determined pursuant to this section shall be reduced by any previously
  determined permanent impairment for which compensation has been paid, but if the combination
  of the prior impairment rating and the rating determined pursuant to this section
  would result in the employee being considered permanently totally disabled, the prior
  rating shall not negate a finding of permanent total disability. (Amended 1959, No. 34, eff. March 12, 1959; 1963, No. 134, § 2, eff. June 6, 1963; 1977, No. 182 (Adj. Sess.), § 13, eff. May 3, 1978; 1993, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. April 1, 1995; 2007, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 6.)