Connecticut's Workers' Comp Maximum Is Generally $1,776 A Week. Why Your Check May Be Smaller

For a Connecticut worker hurt on the job between October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2027, workers' compensation generally pays no more than $1,776 a week for total disability. Your check may be smaller. The ordinary benefit is 75 percent of your after-tax average weekly wage, and the cap only matters when that calculation would come out above $1,776. Partial disability benefits carry a lower cap of $1,175. A new law removes both caps for certain health care and education workers disabled by an assault on the job. Which year's cap applies generally depends on the date you were hurt, not the date a check is issued.

Where Connecticut's $1,776 Workers' Comp Maximum Comes From

Under C.G.S. § 31-309, the weekly benefit generally cannot exceed 100 percent of the average weekly earnings of all workers in the state for the year of the injury, rounded up to the next dollar. The Labor Commissioner determines that average each year by August 15, based on the twelve months ending the previous June 30, and the new figure takes effect October 1. Section 31-307 can set a different rule, as it does for the assault cases described below.

The Commission's benefit tables put the state average weekly wage for the year beginning October 1, 2026 at $1,775.92, which rounds up to a maximum of $1,776. The Commission announced the maximum in Memorandum 2026-05 on September 4, 2026, and released the benefit rate tables the same day. The new maximum is one of several changes covered in our guide to the laws that took effect October 1, 2026.

Why Your Workers' Comp Check Is Usually Smaller Than Your Paycheck

For total disability, C.G.S. § 31-307 generally pays 75 percent of your average weekly wage after federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare are taken out. The minimum, the maximum and the special rules described below can change that figure.

Your average weekly wage comes from C.G.S. § 31-310. In the usual case, it is the total wages the employer paid you during the 52 calendar weeks before the week you were hurt, divided by the number of weeks you were actually employed by that employer.

The Commission publishes tables under § 31-310 that convert a gross average weekly wage into the 75 percent after-tax benefit. The tables run by tax filing status, and the statute makes them conclusive. That means two workers with the same gross wage can have different comp rates if one files as single and the other as married filing jointly.

The tables do not fit every case. They generally use the filing status from your last federal return, but if your status on the date of injury was different, documentation must be submitted to the Commission for review and approval. A worker or spouse who is 65 or older or blind needs a manual calculation. The tables also assume Social Security and Medicare were withheld; the Commission's Memorandum 2026-06 covers workers an administrative law judge finds were not subject to those taxes.

Under the 2026 to 2027 tables, a single filer averaging $1,000 a week gross has a total disability rate of $606.68. A single filer averaging $3,000 a week gross has a rate of $1,579.79, still under the maximum. The $1,776 cap does not come into play until gross pay reaches about $3,420 a week for a single filer, or about $3,100 for a worker filing jointly with a spouse.

There is also a floor. Under § 31-307, a totally disabled worker receives at least 20 percent of the maximum, $355.20 for injuries in the 2026 to 2027 year, unless 75 percent of the worker's own average weekly wage is lower, in which case that lower figure is the floor.

Workers' Comp Caps Differ By Benefit Type

The $1,776 maximum applies to ordinary total disability benefits under § 31-307(a) and to dependents' benefits after a work-related death under C.G.S. § 31-306. For survivors who were wholly dependent on the worker, that benefit is generally 75 percent of the deceased worker's after-tax average weekly wage. A survivor who was only partly dependent may receive less. Our article on what happens after a fatal workplace accident covers those claims.

Ordinary partial disability benefits under C.G.S. § 31-308 have a lower cap, the average weekly earnings of production workers in Connecticut manufacturing, which Memorandum 2026-05 puts at $1,175 for the same injury year. Two kinds of benefit fall under that section:

• Temporary partial benefits, for a worker who can do some work but earns less than before. The benefit is 75 percent of the after-tax difference between what a worker in your old position earns and what you are able to earn now. It is a percentage of the gap, not of your wages, and it can continue for up to 520 weeks. If your treating provider certifies that you cannot do your usual work but can do other work, you may be paid your full weekly rate instead. This applies only if you are ready and willing to do that work in the same area and no such work is available. That rate is still subject to the ordinary partial cap.
• Permanent partial benefits, paid for a set number of weeks when an injury leaves a permanent loss of use of a body part listed in the statute. These are 75 percent of your after-tax average weekly wage, with the $1,175 cap and a $50 minimum.

For qualifying workers, the assault benefits under § 31-307(e) and (f), described below, are subject to neither cap.

Your Date Of Injury Decides Which Maximum Applies

The maximum that governs your claim is generally the one in effect on the date you were hurt. A worker injured on September 28, 2026 stays on the tables for October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, with a $1,716 maximum, even though the new figure took effect three days later. For an occupational disease, § 31-309 treats the date of injury as the date you became totally or partially unable to work because of the disease.

If you received total disability benefits, went back to work after recovering, and a relapse or recurrence later leaves you totally or partially unable to work, § 31-307b generally uses the applicable maximum for the year of the relapse. It also uses your wages at that time if they produce a higher rate. That rule does not apply to a worker eligible for the specific-injury benefits listed in § 31-308, which are the permanent partial benefits described above.

Does The New Maximum Raise An Existing Workers' Comp Check?

For an injury since July 1, 1993, the new maximum does not raise an existing temporary total or partial disability check, but there are exceptions. Under C.G.S. § 31-307a, a worker permanently and totally disabled by such an injury receives a cost-of-living adjustment each October 1 if the maximum is higher than it was on the date of injury. The adjustment equals the percentage by which the maximum has risen since that date. The statute applies the same adjustment to a worker who has been totally disabled by the injury for five years or more. Injuries before July 1, 1993 follow the earlier adjustment rules in the same section. Dependents paid death benefits under § 31-306 get a similar adjustment.

Three Rules That Can Raise Your Workers' Comp Rate

A second job. Under § 31-310, if your pay from the employer where you were hurt is not enough to reach the maximum rate, your average weekly wage is figured on your pay from all of your employers for the weeks you held the jobs at the same time, up to 52 weeks. The employer where you were hurt remains responsible for medical bills and for its share of the rate, generally 75 percent of the after-tax wage it paid you. The rest comes from Connecticut's Second Injury Fund, a state fund administered by the Treasurer. Tell your lawyer and the insurer about any second job, and keep the pay stubs from it.

An assault on a health care worker or education employee. As of October 1, 2026, under Public Act 26-12, which added subsections (e) and (f) to § 31-307, a covered worker who is totally or partially disabled by a physical or negligent assault while doing their job receives 100 percent of their average weekly wage instead of the ordinary 75 percent, with no § 31-309 maximum. Covered workers include health care providers and other employees of a health care facility or institution. On the education side, the act covers teachers, board members and other employees of local and state boards of education and the state's public higher-education boards. State-operated health care facilities other than UConn Health are excluded, so whether a particular job qualifies takes a close read of the act.

A cited safety violation. Section 31-307 also pays 100 percent of your average weekly wage in one other case. The injury or illness must have been caused by the employer's violation of a state or federal workplace health or safety regulation. The violation must already have been cited and not corrected within the time the citation allowed, and the citation must not have been set aside on appeal. If that could describe your injury, raise it with a lawyer.

What To Look For When Your First Workers' Comp Check Arrives

On the check or the insurer's rate letter, look for five things:

1. The average weekly wage the insurer used, and the 52 weeks it covers. Compare it against your pay stubs.
2. Your tax filing status. The wrong column in the tables produces the wrong rate.
3. Which year's table was used. It generally follows your date of injury, though a qualifying relapse or recurrence may use the relapse year's rates.
4. Whether a second job was counted, if you had one.
5. Which benefit you are being paid, total or partial, since the caps differ.

Ask the adjuster to show the calculation in writing. If the figures do not add up, a lawyer can raise the dispute with the Commission.

Two other points will not show up on the rate letter. Telling your supervisor is not the same as filing a claim, and our article on Form 30C explains the written notice that protects your rights. If someone outside your company caused the injury, such as a driver or another company's contractor, you may also have a third-party claim alongside the comp case.

If your weekly check looks wrong, or no one has explained how it was calculated, our New Haven workers' compensation attorneys can review the figures with you. Contact our office for a free consultation.