What is the Second Injury Fund?

The Second Injury Fund (SIF) is a state program that will make contributions toward your disability benefits in the event your previous injuries and disabilities, along with your current workers’ compensation injury, render you entirely and permanently disabled. The rationale behind the SIF was to persuade employers to hire disabled workers by reducing, in the event of additional injury, their liability for compensation payments to amounts that only apply to the most recent injury.

Payments from the SIF begin at the end of the payment of benefits from the employer or the insurance carrier and continue until the beneficiary dies or has secured gainful employment. The Fund remains liable for any remaining benefits.