Claiming Ankle & Knee Sprains at the ART
An ankle or knee sprain, or a torn meniscus, suffered at work or on the commute is covered by the workers' compensation insurer. What sets the amount is not the diagnosis but the sequela left behind, measured against the Impairment Rating Schedule brought into force by Decree 549/2025. The lawyer is paid by the insurer.
Twisted your ankle or knee at work?
Have your impairment rating audited by Dr. Guillermo Conti. The fees are borne by the insurer:
The distinctions that set your award
- A simple sprain is not a ligament injury with a sequela: a twist that heals leaving no instability or limitation produces no compensable impairment. What is compensated is the permanent sequela that persists once treatment is exhausted.
- Temporary disability is not permanent disability: while you are under treatment you receive Temporary Work Disability pay; only after the discharge is it decided whether a compensable permanent impairment remains.
- An accident on the premises is not a commuting accident when it comes to the surcharge: the 20% lump-sum surcharge under section 3 of Law 26,773 applies where the harm occurred at the workplace or while you were at the employer's disposal. Commuting accidents are covered, but that surcharge does not follow automatically.
- The insurance system is not the civil action: section 4 of Law 26,773 forces an exclusive election between them. They are not cumulative.
The statutory framework behind your ankle
Law 24,557 treats as a workplace accident any sudden and violent event occurring by reason of or on the occasion of work, or on the journey between your home and your workplace, provided you did not interrupt or alter that journey for reasons unrelated to work (sec. 6). Stepping badly off a truck and twisting your ankle, or slipping on the plant floor and injuring your knee, fall squarely within that definition.
The degree of Permanent Work Disability is not decided by you or by the insurer: it is determined by the medical boards against the Impairment Rating Schedule, weighing in addition your age, the type of activity and the prospects of redeployment (sec. 8(3), Law 24,557). And that schedule is binding: section 9 of Law 26,773 requires administrative bodies and courts to align their reports, opinions and rulings with it.
2. The new schedule: how your knee or ankle is measured
Here is the change that matters most for this kind of injury. Decree 549/2025 (Official Gazette, 6 August 2025) replaced Annex I of Decree 659/96 in full with a new Impairment Rating Schedule. It took effect one hundred and eighty calendar days after publication and, from that date, applies to every impairment assessment not yet issued, regardless of the administrative or judicial stage the file has reached (sec. 3). In short: if your case has no opinion yet, it is measured under the new schedule.
Within the Osteoarticular chapter, the schedule devotes a dedicated section to these injuries: Table 4, "Capsulo-Ligamentary and Meniscal Injuries", which is exactly where an ankle sprain with residual instability, a knee ligament injury and a torn meniscus belong.
Two rules from that table are worth understanding before arguing about a percentage:
- The percentage already includes functional impact. The Table 4 values incorporate loss from functional impact — restricted movement and ankylosis — and shortening of the limb. They are not added on top.
- Goniometry is a fallback. Measuring active joint mobility may be used to weigh impairment only where the sequela is not covered by the chapter's tables. If your injury sits in Table 4, it is measured by the table, not by degrees of flexion.
Another general rule of the new schedule, and one of the most consequential in money terms: where a single contingency leaves several sequelae, impairment is determined by the residual capacity method, unless the relevant chapter expressly provides for arithmetic addition. Adding two injury percentages by hand produces a number the Board will not endorse.
Since March 2026 there is a further layer. Law 27,802 added section 4 bis to Law 27,348: the adhering jurisdictions are bound to apply the Impairment Rating Schedule strictly, to establish and resource forensic medical corps where there are no court experts meeting the conditions of section 2, and to implement, within ninety days, the digital environments the SRT makes available to assist doctors and experts in calculating impairment. The stated aim is to end the spread of criteria from one board to another.
3. The caps when there is more than one injury
If, besides the meniscus, a ligament injury remains in the same knee, or if the ankle and lower leg are both affected, the schedule sets ceilings by segment of the lower limb. The sum of the impairments may not exceed:
| Segment involved | Impairment cap |
|---|---|
| Foot and/or ankle | 35% |
| Foot, ankle and/or lower leg | 40% |
| Foot, ankle, lower leg and/or knee | 55% |
| Foot, ankle, lower leg, knee and/or thigh and/or hip and/or hemipelvis | 70% |
These caps come from the Osteoarticular chapter of the schedule in force and do not depend on the judgement of the doctor examining you. When someone presents a percentage that exceeds them, or when the insurer invokes them to trim a sequela that does not even reach the ceiling, there is something to review.
4. The proceeding, step by step
- Report the accident the same day. Tell your employer and ask that the insurer be notified. A late report is the most common argument for disputing causation.
- Ask for the studies that actually show the injury. A plain X-ray does not show a torn meniscus or a ligament injury. Without imaging documenting the sequela, the Board is working blind. Complementary studies in the proceeding are free for you (sec. 21(4), Law 24,557).
- Follow treatment through to discharge. While it lasts you receive Temporary Work Disability pay: the first ten days from the employer and the rest from the insurer, plus family allowances (sec. 13, Law 24,557).
- If the discharge comes too early, file a medical discharge dispute before the Jurisdictional Medical Board, with your ID, the accident report and the discharge certificate. That filing is made in person.
- Wait for the opinion. The Board has sixty administrative business days from the first properly completed filing, extendable only on substantiated factual grounds (sec. 3, Law 27,348).
- Check the maths before signing. The Settlement Service may not approve an agreement below what results from strict application of Law 24,557 (Annex I, sec. 3, Law 27,348).
- If the rating is unfair, appeal to the Central Medical Board or directly to the labor courts for the address of the Board that heard the case, at your option (sec. 2, Law 27,348) — with legal representation paid by the insurer.
5. How the money is calculated
Once partial permanent impairment is declared final, and where the rating is equal to or below 50%, the award is a lump sum: 53 times the monthly value of the base income, multiplied by the impairment percentage and by a coefficient of 65 divided by your age at the date of the first disabling manifestation (sec. 14(2)(a), Law 24,557). If the rating exceeds 50% and is below 66%, a different regime applies: the periodic annuity under subsection (b).
Base income is not your last salary: it is the monthly average of all wages accrued during the year before the first disabling manifestation, restated month by month by the RIPTE wage index, and it accrues interest until the award is made available (sec. 12, Law 24,557). A year misreported by the employer lowers the final figure without anyone noticing.
Added to that, where applicable, is the 20% lump-sum surcharge under section 3 of Law 26,773, which applies where the harm occurred at the workplace or while you were at the employer's disposal. Statutory floors updated every six months by the SRT against the RIPTE index also apply. For the calculation worked through with figures, see the guide on how workers' compensation awards are calculated and, for meniscus cases, what the insurer pays for a torn meniscus.
6. Mistakes that shrink or erase the award
What costs the most
- Not reporting at the time. The more time between the accident and the report, the easier it is for the insurer to argue the injury is not work-related.
- Accepting the discharge with residual pain. If instability or limitation persists, the route is the discharge dispute, before signing anything.
- Not checking the base income. An error in the prior year's average wage carries through the whole calculation.
- Paying out of pocket for fees or studies. By statute these fall on the insurer. If you are charged, it should be claimed back.
- Adding percentages by hand. The schedule in force requires the residual capacity method, save where expressly stated, and sets caps by segment of the lower limb.
- Choosing the civil route without grasping that it is exclusive. Collecting or suing under either system closes the other (sec. 4, Law 26,773).
- Letting the limitation period run. Two years from when the benefit should have been paid or provided and, in any event, from the end of the employment relationship (sec. 44, Law 24,557).
See also: workplace accidents and compensation and commuting accidents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a twisted ankle on the way to work covered?
Yes. Section 6 of Law 24,557 includes the journey between home and workplace in the definition of a workplace accident, provided you did not interrupt or alter that journey for reasons unrelated to work.
Which schedule is my injury measured against today?
The Impairment Rating Schedule that Decree 549/2025 substituted for Annex I of Decree 659/96, applicable to every assessment not yet issued, at whatever stage the file has reached.
Where does a sprain or torn meniscus sit in that schedule?
In Table 4 of the Osteoarticular chapter, "Capsulo-Ligamentary and Meniscal Injuries", whose percentages already include functional impact and shortening of the limb.
Is my impairment measured by range of motion?
Only as a fallback. Active joint mobility is assessed where the sequela is not covered by the chapter's tables; if it sits in Table 4, that table applies.
If I have both meniscus and ligament damage in the same knee, do the percentages simply add up?
No. The schedule sets caps: foot and/or ankle, 35%; adding the lower leg, 40%; adding the knee, 55%; and adding thigh, hip or hemipelvis, 70%. Sequelae from one contingency are also combined by residual capacity unless the schedule directs addition.
Is an MRI essential?
The statute does not name it, but in evidentiary practice it is decisive: a torn meniscus or a ligament injury is rarely visible on a plain X-ray, and without imaging the sequela is left unsupported.
What is the compensation formula?
For final partial permanent impairment of 50% or less: 53 times the monthly value of the base income, multiplied by the impairment percentage and by 65 divided by your age at the first disabling manifestation (sec. 14(2)(a), Law 24,557).
Do I always get the 20% surcharge under Law 26,773?
Not always. That lump-sum surcharge applies where the harm occurred at the workplace or while the worker was at the employer's disposal (sec. 3, Law 26,773).
Do I have to pay a lawyer to claim before the SRT?
No. Section 1 of Law 27,348 places the fees for legal representation and the worker's other expenses exclusively on the insurer.
Can I sue my employer in civil court instead of claiming from the insurer?
You can, but the election is exclusive: the systems are not cumulative, and collecting money or filing suit under one means the election has been made (sec. 4, Law 26,773).
What did the 2026 reform change in these cases?
Law 27,802 added section 4 bis to Law 27,348: adhering jurisdictions must apply the schedule strictly, establish forensic medical corps, and implement within ninety days the SRT's digital environments for calculating impairment.
How long do I have before my claim lapses?
Two years, counted from when the benefit should have been paid or provided and, in any event, two years from the end of the employment relationship (sec. 44, Law 24,557).