If you got hurt on the job and you’re left with some lasting damage, you might qualify for something called a Schedule Loss of Use award—or SLU, for short. Yeah, it sounds a little technical, but stick with me—it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds.
Basically, SLU is how the workers’ comp system puts a dollar value on the permanent loss of function in certain body parts—like your arm, leg, hand, or foot—once you’ve hit what they call maximum medical improvement (MMI). That’s just a fancy way of saying your doctor believes you’ve recovered as much as you’re going to.
So, why should you care? Because SLU can seriously affect how much money you walk away with after an injury. And a lot of folks miss out or get lowballed simply because they don’t understand how it works.
So how do they actually decide how much function you’ve lost in a body part? It’s not a wild guess—they use a mix of medical tests, measurements, and a set of official guidelines to come up with your percentage.
The first step is hitting Maximum Medical Improvement, or MMI. That just means your doctor thinks you've healed as much as you're going to. You're stable, and things probably aren't going to change much from here.
Once you're at MMI, your doctor will do a full SLU evaluation, which usually includes:
Those guidelines help doctors figure out the exact percentage of loss. For example, if your shoulder is supposed to move 180 degrees and you can only get to 150, that gap gets turned into a percentage—and that percentage is what your SLU award is based on.
Alright, let’s talk numbers. There’s a simple formula to calculate how much your SLU award is worth:
SLU % × number of weeks that body part is worth × your comp rate = your total award
Here’s a quick example:
Sounds great, right? But here’s the catch: if you already got paid while you were out of work, that money gets taken out of your SLU award.
So let’s say you already received $20,000 in temporary disability payments. That gets subtracted, leaving you with a final payment of $11,200.
In other words, this isn’t some extra payout on top of what you’ve already been getting. It’s the final tally of what your injury is worth, minus anything you’ve already been paid.
If you hurt more than one body part that’s on the schedule—like both knees, or maybe a hand and a shoulder—you don’t just get one SLU. You’re actually entitled to a separate SLU for each injury.
And the math? Super simple. You just add up the weeks for each injury and then multiply by your weekly comp rate. That gives you your total payout.
Now, here’s where it can get a little tricky (but in a good way). Let’s say you injured a couple of fingers. In some cases, your doctor might be able to “load” those injuries together and turn them into a hand or even arm SLU. Why does that matter? Because sometimes a partial hand injury pays more than two individual finger injuries.
Let’s clear this up—because a lot of people hear the word “settlement” and assume it all means the same thing. But in workers’ comp, there’s a big difference between a Schedule Loss of Use (SLU) award and a Section 32 settlement.
An SLU is pretty straightforward—it’s based on a percentage of loss and the number of weeks your injury is worth. But here’s the catch: they subtract any money you’ve already been paid while you were out of work. So your final payout might be less than the total number you expected.
A Section 32, on the other hand, is a lump sum settlement. You and the insurance company agree on a number, and that’s what you get—no deductions for past payments. The trade-off? It usually means you’re closing your case for good, including future medical.
Sometimes a Section 32 gives you more freedom and a cleaner way to move on. Other times, sticking with an SLU award makes more sense—especially if you still need treatment or want to keep the case open a bit longer.
If you're not sure where your case stands, what to do next, or whether you're getting what you should, I’m here to help.
Feel free to give me, Rex Zachofsky, a call at 212-406-8989. Whether it’s a quick question or you’re looking for full-on legal help, we’ll talk it through and see what makes the most sense for you.
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