Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 75

Disablement benefit

Section 75 sets out the entitlement to disablement benefit for workers who suffer injury from a workplace accident, including the minimum threshold of disability, the assessment process and the form the benefit takes.

• Workers injured in workplace accidents qualify for disablement benefit if their assessed disability reaches at least 15% (reduced to 1% for assessments with periods beginning before 1 January 2012).
• Benefit cannot be claimed until after the third day of a 156-day period following the accident, and not for any days within that period when the person is incapable of work.
• Disablement below 20% is paid as a one-off gratuity; disablement of 20% or more attracts an ongoing weekly pension.
• Where disablement falls between 15% and 19% and the assessment period exceeds seven years or covers the claimant's lifetime, the claimant may opt to receive a pension instead of a gratuity.