How Are Lost Wages Calculated After a Work Accident?

Thursday, September 5, 2013

How Are Lost Wages Calculated After a Work Accident?

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

Getting hurt at work is a stressful thing to have to go through. In addition to the actual injury, you have to sort out details like medical bills and wages you missed out on. If you’re a salaried employee, it’s easy to calculate the money you could have earned, but if you’re hourly and have a non-permanent schedule, that can be much more difficult. If you return to work after a set amount of days, that’s also relatively easy to calculate lost wages for, but when you’re out of work indefinitely without a predictable return date, things are much more complicated.

Insurance Companies Aren’t On Your Side

When you get hurt at work and you need to file claims for lost wages, it’s important to seek the help of a workers compensation lawyer, since insurance companies will try to pay out as little as possible. You and your attorney will need to put together a reasonable, realistic figure for lost wages based on your average earnings with the company you work for. If you work for more than one company, that also needs to be taken into account, however there are usually stipulations for qualifying for lost wages from both jobs that include your first job being aware that you had a second job. A workers compensation lawyer will have the knowledge necessary to help you decide on how to best approach a lost wages case after getting hurt at work.

Out of Work Forever?

If it is determined that you are never able to return to work, the situation becomes even more complicated. Then, you and your workers comp lawyer need to figure in a number of different factors that contribute to the total amount of you would have earned had you been able to return to work. Things like the amount of years you potentially had left to work (until retirement), your employment history, and your job skills/educational background will factor into the equation when it comes to determining a figure of lost wages settlement. As you can imagine, having a work accident attorney on your side for this is essential. They’ll help you obtain the compensation you deserve so you can live your life the way you’d prefer to.

Steve Malman

Malman Law’s founder Attorney Steven Malman has over 30 years of experience handling personal injury, nursing home, medical malpractice, truck accidents, car accidents, premises liability, construction, and workers’ compensation cases in Chicago, IL.

Years of experience: +30 years
Illinois Registration Status: Active and authorized to practice law—Last Registered Year: 2024

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