62-4-5. Compensation for partial disability.

If, after an injury has been sustained, the employee as a result thereof becomes partially incapacitated from pursuing the employee's usual and customary line of employment, or if the employee has been released by the employee's physician from temporary total disability and has not been given a rating to which § 62-4-6 would apply, the employee shall receive compensation, subject to the limitations as to maximum amounts fixed in § 62-4-3, equal to one-half of the difference between the average amount which the employee earned before the accident, and the average amount which the employee is earning or is able to earn in some suitable employment or business after the accident. If the employee has not received a bona fide job offer that the employee is physically capable of performing, compensation shall be at the rate provided by § 62-4-3. However, in no event may the total calculation be less than the amount the claimant was receiving for temporary total disability, unless the claimant refuses suitable employment.

Source: SDC 1939, § 64.0403 (3); SL 1963, ch 460, § 2; SL 1969, ch 286; SL 1971, ch 282; SL 1978, ch 370, § 7; SL 1993, ch 379, § 2; SL 1995, ch 296, § 8; SL 1999, ch 261, § 5.

62-4-5.1. Compensation during period of rehabilitation--Procedure.

If an employee suffers disablement as defined by subdivision 62-8-1(3) or an injury and is unable to return to the employee's usual and customary line of employment, the employee shall receive compensation at the rate provided by § 62-4-3 up to sixty days from the finding of an ascertainable loss if the employee is actively preparing to engage in a program of rehabilitation as shown by a certificate of enrollment. Moreover, once such employee is engaged in a program of rehabilitation which is reasonably necessary to restore the employee to suitable, substantial, and gainful employment, the employee shall receive compensation at the rate provided by § 62-4-3 during the entire period that the employee is engaged in such program. Evidence of suitable, substantial, and gainful employment, as defined by § 62-4-55, shall only be considered to determine the necessity for a claimant to engage in a program of rehabilitation.

The employee shall file a claim with the employee's employer requesting such compensation and the employer shall follow the procedure specified in chapter 62-6 for the reporting of injuries when handling such claim. If the claim is denied, the employee may petition for a hearing before the department.

Source: SL 1974, ch 333, § 4; SL 1978, ch 370, § 8; SL 1989, ch 451, § 2; SL 1990, ch 30, § 20; SL 1994, ch 396, § 9; SL 1998, ch 299, § 1.