Proportional Schedule Loss of Use Calculations

Calculating Schedule Loss (SLU) Values when Range of Motion (ROM) Measurements are Between the Values Stated in the Permanency Guidelines.

If you were injured at work and looking for our NY SLU calculator, click here. For the attorney version, click here.

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board‘s 2018 Impairment Guidelines state, “Schedule loss of use percentages for ranges of motion values above/below those depicted here should be adjusted proportionally.” The Guidelines does not explain how to make these proportional adjustments/calculations.

Below is a simple-to-use tool, which performs these Proportional SLU calculations for you. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Just enter your range of motion measurements in the red cells below, and the proportional SLU will be calculated. Step-by-step directions are at the bottom of the page.

Proportional SLU Calculation Tool

To use the Proportional SLU Calculator:

Enter the body part in the RED “Body Part” cell above by clicking on the cell and typing in the body part (e.g. shoulder). Only the RED cells can be edited.
Enter the range of motion being measured (e.g. abduction).
Enter the claimant’s measured range of motion in the cell below ROM. (e.g. If the claimant had a measured 110 degrees of abduction enter 110).
Using the 2018 Impairment Guidelines, in the “Guideline ROM A” cell enter the range of motion corresponding to the range of motion just above the measured ROM. (e.g. If the claimant had 110 degrees of abduction, the next ROM greater than 110 degrees is 135 degrees).
In the “Guideline SLU A” cell, enter the SLU percentage corresponding to the Guideline ROM you entered in step 4 above. (e.g. Since 135 degrees of motion equals a 20% SLU, enter 20%).
In the “Guideline ROM B” cell, enter the range of motion corresponding to the range of motion below the measured ROM and in the “Guideline SLU B” cell enter the corresponding SLU value from the guidelines (e.g. If the claimant had 110 degrees of abduction, the next ROM below 110 degrees is 90 degrees which corresponds to a 40% SLU).
Once all the RED cells have been filled in, the proportional SLU value will be displayed.
The large cell at in row 3 provides a breakdown of each step of the calculation. You can copy (control-c) it and paste (control-v) it into a memorandum of law, medical report, etc..
Enjoy.

Adjusting SLU for Contralateral ROM deficits.

The Proportional SLU Calculation Tool above can be used to calculate the final SLU after adjusting for the contralateral ROM defects.

First, enter the contralateral ROM in the “Cont. ROM” Cell.
Second, enter the normal ROM in the “Normal ROM” Cell.
Once both of the blue cells are filled in the SLU value as adjusted for the contralateral ROM will be displayed.
The large cell at in row 4 provides a breakdown of each step of the calculation. You can copy (control-c) it and paste (control-v) it into a memorandum of law, medical report, etc..

The Legal Basis for this Method of Adjusting For Contralateral ROM deficits.

The 2018 Impairment Guidelines state that in determining a SLU, “Deficits should be measured by comparing to the baseline reading of the contralateral member, if appropriate. Using the contralateral is not appropriate where the opposite side has been previously injured or is not otherwise available for comparison.”

The 5/23/18 training materials for the 2018 Guidelines available at http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/hcpp/ImpairmentGuidelines/ImpGuideOverview.jsp set forth the method for calculate a SLU when the contralateral limb if found to be applicable. Pursuant to the case study starting on page 35 of the Power Point presentation, there are three steps to determining the final SLU.

In the case study the claimant had 45 degrees of motion in the injured right shoulder and 140 degrees in the non-affected left shoulder.
- First, the baseline percentage is calculated from the contralateral limb. In the example, 140 degrees divide by 180 degrees for a normal shoulder = 78%.
- Second, one determines the SLU of the affected limb. 45 degrees of motion is normally a 60% SLU.
- Third, the SLU is multiplied by the ratio of the contralateral ROM to normal. 60% is then multiplied by the 78% baseline percentage to arrive at a 47% SLU.

In another example available at

https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/hcpp/ImpairmentGuidelines/SLU-FAQs.jsp

the “claimant’s ROM is 135 degrees, this results in a 20% SLU of the arm (See 2018 Guidelines, Table 5.4(a), p. 31).”
The contralateral shoulder ROM is had flexion from 0 to 160 degrees, which becomes the baseline comparison for ROM.
For example, flexion ROM of the injured shoulder is 0 to 135 degrees. 160/180 x100=89%
20% SLI x 89% =18% SLU adjusted for contralateral ROM.

In Excellus Inc, WCB# G3019590 [1/31/25, the Board used this method to adjust the SLU based on the contralateral ROM deficits. In Excellus, the claimant had a 37.5 SLU prior to adjusting for the contralateral shoulder. He had 170/180 degrees of motion in the contralateral limb.

170/180 =0.94.
37.5% non-adjusted SLU x .94 baseline percentage = 35.12% SLU