If you work a standard 40-hour week, or if you always work essentially the same amount of hours per week or month, it’s pretty easy to figure out what you’re owed if you are injured at work and pursuing wage loss benefits. However, there’s a significant amount of the workforce that doesn’t work regular hours. Perhaps they are:
- Part-time
- Seasonal
- Laid off for parts of the year
- Working irregular hours based on business demands
- Picking up irregular overtime shifts
- Seeing varying income amounts due to tips or bonuses
- Working multiple jobs
If even one of the above statements applies to you, it’s imperative that you connect with a workers’ compensation attorney in the event you are hurt on the job and are interested in pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. Connecting with an attorney can make the difference between having your claim denied, being underpaid or getting the compensation you deserve.
Odd Hours And Wage Loss Benefits
Minnesota law breaks down how wage loss benefits are calculated based on the employee’s individual situation. For one full-time, regularly scheduled employee, the calculation can be as simple as multiplying the amount of hours they worked per week by their hourly pay amount and then taking two-thirds of that number. For example, a person working 40 hours a week that makes $25 an hour would earn $1,000 a week, making them eligible for two-thirds of that amount per week in wage loss benefits, or roughly $660.
For employees with other work schedules, the calculation is much more complex. You can’t just take your best week of the year and use that to calculate your wage loss benefits. Instead, you’ll begin by figuring out your average daily wage:
Under Minn. Stat. § 176.011, Subd. 8a., a worker’s daily wage ”shall be computed by dividing the total amount of wages, vacation pay, and holiday pay the employee actually earned in such employment in the last 26 weeks, by the total number of days in which such wages, vacation pay, and holiday pay was earned.”
Essentially you’ll look at the total amount of money you earned over the last 26 weeks, and you’ll divide that by the number of days you worked over that stretch. It doesn’t matter if it was a full shift or a short shift during rush hour, it counts the same. Let’s put some numbers in the equation.
For example, let’s say you earned $40,000 over the last 26 weeks. You ran the numbers and found out that you worked 104 days over that stretch. You’ll take the total amount earned and divide it by the number of days you worked, or 40,000 divided by 104. This gives you a rough average of $384.61 per shift. Next you need to determine how many average days you worked per week. There are 182 days in 26 weeks, and if you worked 104 days during that stretch, it means you averaged four workdays per week. Multiple your average daily wage ($384.61) by the number of days you worked per week (4), and you get $1,538.44. Take two thirds of that number to determine your wage loss benefits (~1,015.37).
It may seem simple enough when you’re walked through it like this, but if there are bonuses, holiday pay, paid time off, overtime payments or other factors that muddy exactly how much you make and how often you work, it can make it difficult to determine exactly how much you’re owed. Do the math incorrectly, and you could be leaving hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the table.
The attorneys at Hey Workers have helped workers in all types of situations determine their wage loss benefits and get them other benefits they didn’t know they were eligible for, and we can do the same for you. Let us do all the complex formulas and calculations while you sit back and let us get you the benefits you deserve. For questions about calculating wage loss benefits or another aspect of an injury claim, reach out to the team at Hey Workers today at (844) 439-9675.
