Light duty is lighter work an employer offers an injured worker inside the limits a doctor wrote down. Maybe it is shorter hours, or a desk instead of a truck. The pay comes out lower than the job you were doing, and the offer letter rarely says whether workers' compensation covers the rest.
That offer is what Florida also calls modified duty. It is your own employer putting you back to work inside the limits your doctor wrote down. Two things decide what it means for you: what your money adds up to on it, and whether you are allowed to say no.
You should not have to guess at either one. By the end you will know what light duty pays, when you can refuse an offer, and who decides. You will also know who writes your restrictions, how long the checks last, and whether you can be fired while you are on it. I am Mark Hirsch, and I handle Florida workers' compensation claims.
Key Takeaways
- You only have to accept light duty that fits the restrictions your doctor wrote on the DWC-25, which is the form your doctor fills out at each visit.
- A judge of compensation claims, not your boss, decides whether turning down light duty was justified.
- Tell the insurance carrier within 5 business days of going back to work, or Florida Statute 440.15(4)(d) lets it stop your light duty checks until you do.
- Light duty weeks and no-work weeks come out of the same 104 weeks of Florida temporary benefits, so time on light duty shortens what is left.
- Florida Statute 440.205 bars your employer from firing, threatening or intimidating you for claiming workers' compensation.
What workers' comp light duty pays, and what your check adds
Here is the short answer. Light duty pays whatever the lighter job pays, and workers' compensation adds 80 percent of the difference between 80 percent of your old average weekly wage and your new earnings.
- Your average weekly wage is what you averaged per week over the 13 weeks before the accident.
- The benefit that covers part of your lost pay is called temporary partial disability.
- It stops at 66.67 percent of your average weekly wage. For a 2026 injury, no Florida comp check can top $1,358 a week.
- You get it only while you still have restrictions and have not reached overall maximum medical improvement, the point where your doctor decides more treatment will not help much.
Where that comes from: Florida Statute 440.15(4)(a), plus the state notice of December 2, 2025 that set the 2026 maximum rate.
The 80 percent shows up twice, and that is where people go wrong. Take 80 percent of your old average weekly wage first. That figure, not your full wage, is what the state measures down from. Only then subtract what you earn on light duty.
The order changes the answer. Take 80 percent of the raw drop from your old pay to your new pay, and you get a bigger number than the law gives.
So a pay cut on light duty is not a loss you absorb. It is what should start a partial check. If yours never came, read what to do when workers' comp is not paying.
Can you refuse a light duty offer?
Sometimes, and the test is narrower than your employer's version of it. Here is how a refusal plays out. Florida Statute 440.15(6) says a worker who refuses "employment suitable to the capacity thereof" gets no compensation while the refusal lasts, unless a judge of compensation claims finds the refusal justifiable. It says any compensation, so an unjustified refusal does more than pause your wage checks.
"Suitable to the capacity thereof" means the job has to fit what your doctor says your body can do now. A job asking you to lift more than your written limit is not suitable, whatever it is called on paper.
Who gets the final word is the part almost nobody is told. Your employer and the carrier can stop paying when they think you refused suitable work, but they do not get the final word. A judge decides whether your refusal was justified, and that ruling can come long after the checks stopped. Refusing light duty work is a position you may have to defend, so give your reason in writing and make it a medical one.
What counts as light duty, and who writes your restrictions
Your light duty work restrictions are not written by your employer, your supervisor or the adjuster. Your authorized treating doctor writes them on a state form called the DWC-25, in a part titled Functional Limitations and Restrictions.
Light duty is any work fitting inside those limits. The most common light duty work examples are a lifting cap, a limit on standing or climbing, fewer hours, or a desk job instead of your own trade.
Ask for a copy of your DWC-25 at every visit. The form has its own shelf life: the limits a doctor assigns stay in force until your next appointment, unless the doctor changes them sooner. A supervisor who says your restrictions ran out on their own is wrong, and the form proves it.
Florida also handles a shortage of light duty differently than people expect. No part of the law orders your employer to invent a job for you. It answers with money instead. Under Florida Statute 440.15(4)(d), a worker who cannot return within the restrictions and earns nothing is paid temporary partial disability anyway. So an employer with nothing suitable has broken no rule, and you have not lost your claim.
Two deadlines, and how long the checks last
Both deadlines here run for 5 business days, and one of them is yours. Florida Statute 440.15(4)(b) gives the carrier 5 business days from learning you were released to restricted work. In that time it has to mail you and your employer a letter about your possible right to temporary partial disability.
Yours is the one that costs money. Florida Statute 440.15(4)(d) gives you 5 business days after you return to work to tell the carrier. Miss it, and the carrier can suspend your checks until you do. Call, then put it in writing so the date is on record.
There is also a limit on how long temporary checks run at all. Florida gives you 104 weeks, and light duty gets no separate allowance. Weeks on light duty and weeks you could not work at all draw down the same 104, under Florida Statute 440.15(4)(e) read with 440.15(2)(a). After that, your permanent impairment rating sets what follows.
Can you be fired while you are on light duty?
Not for filing the claim. Florida Statute 440.205 says no employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any worker over a valid claim for compensation. That covers the pressure as well as the firing, and the whole rule is in our guide to getting fired while on workers' comp.
Misconduct is the separate path, and it is the one reaching your money. Florida Statute 440.15(4)(e) says that if the light duty job fires you for your own misconduct, temporary partial disability is not payable. So the safe habit is dull. Show up, keep your hours, and report any task outside your limits to the doctor rather than refusing it on the floor.
Leaving on your own has a paperwork trap too. Under Florida Statute 440.15(7), quit that employer while drawing temporary partial disability and you owe the old employer a signed statement. It has to name the new employer, the place of work and the wages. Until you hand it over, the checks stop.
5 things to do before you accept a light duty offer
- Ask for the offer in writing. Job title, duties, hours, pay rate, start date and supervisor. An offer nobody will put on paper is one nobody can be held to.
- Put that offer next to your DWC-25. Read the duties one at a time against your limits, because the mismatches are what any dispute will be about.
- Take the mismatches to your doctor, not your supervisor. A doctor who agrees the job goes past your limits can say so on the next form, the only version of that opinion the system acts on.
- Work out the partial check before you start. Run the two-step formula on the offered rate and hours, so you know what should arrive.
- Keep every pay stub and schedule. Your check is worked out against your real earnings each week, so short hours one week change that week's money.
What we do when a light duty offer does not match your restrictions
Most light duty fights are not about the law. They are about what the job really required and what the doctor really wrote, and we win them on documents.
- We read your DWC-25 forms against the real duties of the job, so the mismatch is on paper before anyone calls it a refusal.
- We rebuild your average weekly wage from the 13 weeks before the accident, which is where understated wages hide.
- We check each partial payment against what you actually earned that week, instead of taking the carrier's figure.
- When the carrier stops your checks over a refusal, we put the reason in front of a judge of compensation claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer pay me a lower hourly rate for light duty?
Yes. Nothing in the law sets the wage for a light duty job, and a lighter job often pays less. Lower earnings are what make temporary partial disability payable, so the pay cut and the benefit are tied together.
Do I have to accept light duty a long drive from home?
It depends, and distance alone rarely settles it. Suitability is judged on your whole situation, and a judge weighs it if the carrier stops your benefits. Raise the travel in writing when the offer arrives.
Can I take a second job while I am on light duty?
You can work, but know what it does to the math. The law counts the wages and other pay you are able to earn after the injury, so a second job lowers your partial check. Report it, because unreported earnings are what gets benefits suspended.
Does light duty change my medical care?
No. Your authorized medical care runs on its own part of the law and does not switch off because you went back to work. Nor does it move your maximum medical improvement date, which stays a medical call your doctor makes.
Was Your Light Duty Offer Built Around Your Restrictions, or Around Your Check?
If your hours were cut, your partial check never came, or you are told to accept work your doctor did not clear, those questions have documented answers. Our Florida workers' compensation attorneys can read your DWC-25 and pay records against the offer and tell you where you stand. Contact Templer & Hirsch for a free consultation.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your claim. Benefit amounts and deadlines turn on your own facts and your date of accident.