Ankle Injury at Work: Compensation and Settlement Math
Updated · By the Law Figures editors
General information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and change, so check the sources below or ask a lawyer licensed in your state before you act. Legal disclaimer
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Ankle injury at work compensation usually means weekly checks while you can't work, medical care paid by the insurer, and, if the ankle doesn't fully recover, a permanent award for the lost use. In states with a schedule, an ankle is rated as part of the foot or the leg, and the award is that body part's weeks times your rating times your weekly benefit. In New York, a foot is 205 weeks and a leg is 288.
| Ankle injury | Benefits that often apply | What the rating turns on |
|---|---|---|
| Sprain | Medical care, short time off | Usually no lasting rating if it heals fully |
| Torn ligament | Time off, therapy, sometimes surgery | Stability and range of motion afterward |
| Fracture | Longer time off, possible surgery and hardware | Motion, arthritis, how the joint healed |
| Achilles tendon rupture | Surgery or a long cast, months of therapy | Strength and motion when pushing off |
| Ankle fusion or replacement | Long recovery | Lost motion, often a high rating |
New York's weeks come from Workers' Compensation Law § 15(3), which pays 66⅔% of the average weekly wage. Whether an ankle is rated against the foot or the leg depends on the state and on how far the injury reaches. We checked the weeks on November 7, 2026.
Run your own numbers
The calculator starts on the foot schedule. Switch to the leg if your rating is against the leg, or enter your own state's weeks.
Workers' comp settlement calculator
- Weekly benefit
- $600
- Scheduled award
- $24,60141 weeks
- Temporary disability
- $4,800
- Total
- $29,401
States use their own schedules, rates and caps, and a settlement can trade future medical care for cash. Use this to check the numbers in an offer, not to value your claim.
With a $900 weekly wage and a 20% loss of use of the foot, that's about $600 a week, 41 weeks of award (about $24,600) and 8 weeks of time off (about $4,800), close to $29,400 in all. The same 20% against a leg would be 57.6 weeks, which is why the body part on the doctor's report matters.
How the rating is set
When treatment ends and your doctor says you've reached maximum medical improvement, the doctor measures the ankle: how far it bends up and down, how it turns, its stability and strength. Many states use the American Medical Association's impairment guides for this; New York uses its own guidelines. The insurer can have its own doctor examine you, and the two ratings can differ.
Reporting and deadlines
A slip on a wet floor, a fall from a ladder or stepping off a loading dock all count if they happened in the course of work. Each state sets a deadline to tell your employer and another to file the claim, and the first one can be short. Report the injury in writing, keep a copy, and get care from a provider your state's comp system allows.
Taxes
Workers' comp benefits for a job injury aren't federal taxable income (26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(1)), whether paid weekly or as a lump sum under a workers' compensation act.
Questions to ask about an offer
- Is the rating against the foot or the leg, and why?
- Which weekly wage did the insurer use?
- Does the offer close future medical care, such as a later surgery for arthritis?
- Is any time off still unpaid?
- What does the lawyer take under your state's fee rule? Our workers' comp settlement calculator has the full payout chart.