How Much Can You Expect To Receive From Workers Compensation

If you have been involved in an accident at your work or sustained an injury or you have a work-related illness or disease, you are allowed to claim for “worker’s compensation” benefits. With most nuances, your loss of wages should typically be around 66.667% of your weekly average wage. For example, if you earn $900 a week, your wage-loss benefits would be around $600 a week.

However, there are a variety of nuances involved. There are minimums, flat payments, and maximums. In addition, the extent of your injuries is taken into account as well as your abilities to work play a significant role in deciding on how much you can make from your worker’s compensation payout. The laws associated with workers compensation are confusing and complicated. For this reason, it’s a good idea to hire an experienced lawyer who specializes in work injuries and medical malpractice.

How Much Can You Expect From Your Wage Loss Benefits?

Your wage-loss benefits are associated with 2 factors. These include your standard weekly wages, and the 2nd has to do with the extent associated with your inabilities to work.

When You Are 100% Disabled

If you are not able to work at all, then the according to the Workers’ Compensation Act, your workers’ compensation payout should be based on what your normal weekly wage is, up to a specific maximum and subjected to a specific minimum. The maximum is associated with a DLI (Department of Labor and Industry) calculation, according to the “state-wide average weekly wage.”

For the injuries that occurred in 2017, maximum wage-loss benefits were calculated at $995. The exact benefit will be based on either a flat-amount or a % of your personal income. Below is a breakdown of the benefits:

• If you earn under $552.77, then you will receive 90% of the weekly wage that you earn.

• If you earn between $552.78 and $746.25, your benefit is set at a flat-amount of $497.50

• If you earn over $746.26 a week, your benefit is calculated at 66.667% of the weekly wage that you earn but will not exceed $995.00.

When You Are Partially Disabled

When you are partially disabled, which means you are “not totally unable to work.” This is something a doctor will need to determine and can also depend on whether your employer has made work available to you within restrictions set by a doctor. An example of this may include when your doctor has certified that you are 30% disabled and has cleared you for “light duty” you become entitled to “partial” wage-loss benefits.

The partial disability benefits for wage loss are also based on your normal weekly wage. The wage-loss benefits are calculated at 66.667% associated with the difference between the normal wage that you earn and what you will be earning while you are on light-duty. For example, if your normal wage is $800 a week, and you are now only making $600 a week while working on “light duty”, you become eligible for the 66.667% wage-loss benefit of the $200 difference. This means your benefit would be $133.33 a week.