2013 Maryland Code
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
§ 9-637 - Payment of compensation

§9-637.

(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, if a covered employee has a permanent total disability resulting from an accidental personal injury or an occupational disease, the employer or its insurer shall pay the covered employee compensation that equals two-thirds of the average weekly wage of the covered employee, but may not:

(i) exceed the State average weekly wage; or

(ii) be less than $25.

(2) If the average weekly wage of the covered employee is less than $25 at the time of the accidental personal injury or last injurious exposure to the hazards of the occupational disease, the employer or its insurer shall pay the covered employee weekly compensation that equals the average weekly wage of the covered employee.

(3) Payments under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection may not exceed a total of $45,000.

(b) Notwithstanding the $45,000 limitation in subsection (a)(3) of this section, the employer or its insurer shall pay the benefit for the period that the covered employee is permanently totally disabled.

(c) (1) This subsection applies to the payment of weekly compensation required under subsection (a) of this section if the average weekly wage of a covered employee is computed under § 9-602(l) of this subtitle.

(2) The employer in whose employment the accidental personal injury occurred or the employer’s insurer shall pay the covered employee weekly compensation that is based on the weekly wages of the covered employee at the employment in which the covered employee was injured.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4) of this subsection, any additional weekly compensation resulting from computing the average weekly wage based on weekly wages earned by the covered employee in other employment shall be payable in the first instance by the employer in whose employment the employee was injured or the employer’s insurer.

(4) Subject to any right of the Subsequent Injury Fund to be impleaded or any right of the Subsequent Injury Fund to defend in a case involving payment from the Subsequent Injury Fund created under Title 10, Subtitle 2 of this article, as allowable under Subtitle 8 of this title, the Subsequent Injury Fund shall reimburse the employer in whose employment the employee was injured or the employer’s insurer the amount of additional weekly compensation paid by the employer or insurer under paragraph (3) of this subsection.