Do I Get Paid if I’m Hurt at Work and Can’t Work?

By Omid Shamim, Attorney at Law · Nevada Workers’ Compensation Attorney · Last updated July 20, 2026

You got hurt on the job. The doctor says you can’t work — or can only work with restrictions your employer may or may not be able to accommodate. Meanwhile, the rent is still due. So the question every injured worker asks me first is the same one: “Do I still get paid?” Here is what Nevada law actually says.

What Is Temporary Total Disability (TTD)?

TTD is the workers’ compensation benefit that replaces part of your paycheck while you recover and can’t work. Under NRS 616C.475, an injured employee is entitled to receive, for the period of temporary total disability, 66 2/3 percent (two-thirds) of their average monthly wage. A few important points about how that number is built:

• Your “average monthly wage” is based on your earnings history before the injury — not just your base hourly rate. Overtime and certain other earnings can count, so make sure the insurer calculated it correctly. An undervalued average monthly wage shrinks every check you receive.
• Nevada caps the average monthly wage that can be used in the calculation. The cap is set by the state each fiscal year (it adjusts every July 1), so higher earners may receive less than a true two-thirds of their actual wages. The cap that applies is the one in effect on your date of injury.
• TTD benefits are not taxed like wages.

When Do TTD Checks Start?

The five-day rule

Under NRS 616C.400, temporary compensation benefits aren’t paid unless your injury keeps you from earning full wages for at least 5 consecutive days, or 5 cumulative days within a 20-day period. If you’re out that long, compensation is then computed back to the date of injury — so you don’t lose those first days; they’re paid retroactively once you cross the threshold.

The 14-day rule

Once your claim is accepted, the insurer must issue your first TTD payment within 14 working days after it receives your initial certification of disability, and payments must continue regularly after that.

That phrase — certification of disability — is critical. Your checks don’t flow from the injury itself; they flow from paperwork your treating physician signs. Under NRS 616C.475(7), the certification must state the period of disability, describe your physical limitations or restrictions, specify whether those restrictions are temporary or permanent, and be signed by your authorized treating physician or chiropractic physician. If your doctor doesn’t keep certifying you off work at each visit, your checks stop. Never leave an appointment without knowing your current work status in writing.

When Do TTD Checks Stop?

NRS 616C.475(5) spells out when TTD payments must cease. The two that matter for most workers:

• A physician determines you’re physically capable of gainful employment you’re suited for, considering your education, training, and experience; or
• Your employer offers you light-duty or modified work that fits the restrictions your doctor imposed.

This second one — the light-duty offer — is where injured workers get hurt a second time, financially. So let’s slow down on it.

Light-Duty Work and Your Restrictions: What the Employer Must Actually Offer

If your doctor releases you to modified duty (for example: no lifting over 10 pounds, seated work only, no overhead reaching), your employer may offer you temporary light-duty work — and if you’re working light duty at or near your wage, TTD ends.

But Nevada law doesn’t let an employer end your benefits with just any offer. Under NRS 616C.475(8), a valid offer of temporary light-duty employment must be confirmed in writing within 10 days, and the position must:

• Be substantially similar to your pre-injury job in location and hours — they can’t move you across town or flip you from days to graveyard;
• Pay a gross wage equal to your pre-injury wage (if it’s the same classification of employment) or substantially similar to it (if it’s a different classification); and
• Carry the same employment benefits as your pre-injury position.

One more protection: accepting or rejecting a light-duty offer does not affect your eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services if you ultimately can’t return to your old job. And if the light-duty job pays less than your pre-injury wage, you may be entitled to temporary partial disability (TPD) — a benefit that helps make up part of the difference while you’re on restricted duty. (For how all the benefit numbers fit together, see How Much Is My Workers’ Compensation Case Worth in Nevada?)

“You Were Fired for Misconduct” — Can They Cut Off My Checks? (NRS 616C.232)

Here’s a scenario I see far too often: a worker gets hurt, goes back on light duty, and then gets fired — and the insurer suspends TTD, claiming the worker was “discharged for misconduct.”

Nevada law puts real limits on this. Under NRS 616C.232, an insurer may deny TTD because of a discharge for misconduct only if the insurer proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, both of the following:

• You were discharged solely for misconduct — and not for any reason relating to your workers’ compensation claim; and
• It is the discharge for misconduct, and not your injury, that is the sole cause of your inability to return to work with your pre-injury employer.

The burden is on the insurer, not on you. And the statute draws a sharp line at the seriousness of the conduct: discharge for reasons other than gross misconduct does not limit your entitlement to TTD benefits. Ordinary performance issues, personality conflicts, attendance problems tangled up with your medical appointments, or a termination that conveniently follows your injury report — none of that meets the standard. Gross misconduct means serious, willful wrongdoing, not garden-variety workplace friction.

Two more protections built into the statute:

• The 70-day waiver rule. The insurer waives its right to deny or suspend your TTD on misconduct grounds if it doesn’t make that determination within 70 days after learning you were discharged for misconduct. Insurers that sit on the issue lose it.
• Only TTD is at stake. Even a valid misconduct denial affects only your temporary total disability checks. Your medical treatment, permanent partial disability (PPD) award, vocational rehabilitation, and every other benefit under your claim continue.

What Should I Do to Protect My Benefit Checks?

1. Report the injury immediately and file your C-4 claim form with a doctor within 90 days.
2. Attend every medical appointment and leave each one with a current work-status/certification of disability form.
3. Get every light-duty offer in writing — the law requires written confirmation within 10 days — and compare it to your pre-injury wages, hours, location, and benefits before assuming your checks lawfully stopped.
4. Follow your restrictions on the job. If your employer pressures you to work beyond what your doctor allows, document it in writing.
5. Don’t quit, and don’t give the employer an easy misconduct story. Show up, follow policy, and keep records.
6. Appeal fast. If your TTD is denied or suspended, you have a limited window to appeal to a hearing officer. Deadlines in workers’ comp are unforgiving.

Hurt at work? When you’re in need, call Omid.

I’ve helped injured workers all across Nevada get their TTD checks started, restored after wrongful suspensions, and corrected when the insurer low-balled the average monthly wage. If your benefits were cut off — because of a questionable light-duty offer, a termination the insurer is calling “misconduct,” or no reason you can understand — call me before you accept the insurer’s decision as final. Free consultation. No fee unless you recover.