40 ILCS 5/17-117.1

(40 ILCS 5/17-117.1) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 17-117.1)

Sec. 17-117.1. Duty disability. A teacher who becomes wholly and presumably permanently incapacitated for duty while under age 65 as the proximate result of injuries sustained or a hazardous condition encountered in the performance and within the scope of his duties, if such injury or hazard was not the result of his own negligence, shall be entitled to a duty disability benefit, provided:

(1) application for the benefit is made to the Board not more than 6 months after a final settlement or an award from the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission or within 6 months of the manifestation of an injury or illness that can be traced directly to an injury or illness for which a claim was filed with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission;

(2) certification is received from 2 or more physicians designated by the Board that the teacher is physically incapacitated for teaching service; and

(3) the teacher provides the Board with a copy of the notice of the occurrence that was filed with the Employer within the time provided by law.

The benefit shall be payable during disability and shall be 75% of the salary in effect at date of disability, payable until the teacher's attainment of age 65. At such time if disability still exists, the teacher shall become entitled to a service retirement pension. Creditable service shall accrue during the period the disability benefit is payable.

Before any action is taken by the Board on an application for a duty disability benefit, the teacher shall file a claim with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission to establish that the disability was incurred while the teacher was acting within the scope of and in the course of his duties under the terms of the Workers' Compensation or Occupational Diseases Acts, whichever may be applicable. The benefit shall be payable after a finding by the Commission that the claim was compensable under either of the aforesaid Acts; but if such finding is appealed the benefit shall be payable only upon affirmance of the Commission's finding. After the teacher has made timely application for a duty disability benefit supported by the certificate of two or more physicians, he shall be entitled to a disability retirement pension provided in Section 17-117 of this Act until such time as the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission award finding that his disability is duty-connected as provided in this Section becomes final.

Any amounts provided for the teacher under such Acts shall be applied as an offset to the duty disability benefit payable hereunder in such manner as may be prescribed by the rules of the Board.

(Source: P.A. 93-721, eff. 1-1-05.)