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If you’ve been injured on the job and you’ve made a claim for benefits, you will probably hear the term “AWW” or “Average Weekly Wage.”Under Minnesota workers’ compensation law, your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) at the time of the work injury is the amount that is used to calculate your entitlement to wage loss benefits.
Minnesota workers’ compensation wage loss benefits include Temporary Total Disability (TTD), Temporary Partial Disability (TPD), and Permanent Total Disability (PTD). The amount of the wage loss benefits you are entitled to is based on your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) at the time of your injury.
For full-time, regularly scheduled workers, Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is normally calculated by adding your total gross earnings for the 26 weeks prior to the date of injury, and dividing that amount by 26 weeks.
If you frequently work overtime hours, your overtime pay should also be included in your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) calculation.
If an employee works more than one job on the date of the injury, wages from all the jobs must be included in calculating the employee’s AWW.
In addition to salary or wages, some other types of monetary benefits should also usually be included in the AWW calculation, such as declared tips or the value of room and board.
For employees who work part time or who work irregular schedules, the AWW calculation is done somewhat differently. First, one adds up the total amount earned by the employee, including vacation and holiday pay, during the 26 weeks prior to the injury. Then one counts the total number of days actually worked during that period, including days of paid vacation and paid holidays. The total amount of gross earnings is then divided by the actual number of days worked to calculate the Average Daily Wage during that time period. The total number of days worked during the 26 weeks prior to the injury is then divided by the number of weeks the employee actually worked during the time period to compute the average number of days worked each week. The average daily wage is then multiplied by the average number of days worked each week to calculate the employee’s Average Weekly Wage (AWW).
Workers’ compensation insurance companies very frequently under-calculate the employee’s Average Weekly Wage (AWW) by excluding wages that should otherwise be included, by failing to include earnings from other jobs, or by employing an incorrect calculation method. Our calculation of an employee’s Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is almost always higher than the insurance company’s calculation. An under-calculation of your AWW reduces the amount the wage loss benefits you are paid, including Temporary Total Disability (TTD), Temporary Partial Disability (TPD), or Permanent Total Disability (PTD). This can amount to a significant underpayment of benefits.
If you think the workers’ compensation insurance company has under-calculated your Average Weekly Wage (AWW), call Meuser & Associates at 877-746-5680, or click here to send us an email to schedule a free consultation.
Visit our website at MeuserLaw.com!
