Kenny Habetz Injury Law | February 7, 2025 | Personal Injury
For those injured on the job in Louisiana, workers’ compensation benefits are a crucial part of recovery. If you’ve been hurt at work, you can experience financial hardships due to missed work and unexpected medical bills. Workers’ compensation helps employees get their lives back on track after becoming injured or ill through their employment.
What Does Workers’ Compensation Cover?
Louisiana workers’ compensation law requires employers to maintain workers’ compensation insurance, which can cover:
- Lost wages
- Medical costs
- Retraining costs
- Temporary and permanent disability benefits
- Survivor benefits
You might wonder–how are workers’ compensation benefits calculated in Louisiana? Understanding what is involved in the process can help you prepare in the event you are hurt at work. If you have already suffered a work injury and want to know what to do next, an experienced Louisiana workers’ compensation and workplace accident attorney can help.
Here, we’ll look more at how worker’s compensation is calculated in Louisiana.
Factors in Calculating Workers’ Compensation
Each accident and settlement will be unique based on the facts involved. However, many workers’ compensation claims involve some common factors that affect the value of compensation:
- Your injury: severe injuries require extensive medical treatment and long-term care, leading to higher settlement values.
- The injury’s impact on your work: when a workplace injury keeps you from going back to your regular job duties or prevents you from working at all, you will require additional compensation.
- Missed work: if your injury keeps you out of work for an extended period, your lost income is part of the calculation for workers’ compensation.
- Disputed facts: If the insurer responsible for your employer’s workers’ compensation contests the facts of your claim, this can affect your total compensation.
- Income: a workers’ compensation claim is based partly on the specific details of your income–also referred to as your average weekly wage.
Louisiana workers’ compensation relies strongly on your average weekly wage (AWW) when the accident happened. This figure is based on your work duties, role, and earnings. Calculating your average weekly wage is not just a matter of referencing your last pay stub, however. Different considerations are included in your AWW calculation. Because of the complexities involved, injured workers can benefit from skilled legal advice to get the most out of their workers’ compensation claims.
How is the Average Weekly Wage Calculated?
The average weekly wage is based on the work you perform and how you are paid, but will typically be calculated as follows:
- Full-time employees: If you work a typical 40-hour workweek, you would generally multiply your hourly wage by 40. For example, if you earn $20 hourly, your AWW would then be $800. If you frequently work overtime, that can increase your AWW and compensation in your claim. The AWW calculation usually looks at overtime over the four full weeks before your injury.
- Employees working under 40 hours per week: If you voluntarily work fewer than 40 hours weekly, your AWW would average your earnings over the four weeks immediately before your accident.
- Part-time employees: For part-time employees, AWW is calculated by multiplying hourly wage by the average number of hours worked in the 4 weeks before the injury.
- Employees working multiple jobs: If you work more than one job and are hurt at one of them, you can still collect benefits through that employer. If your workplace injury causes you to stop working at your other jobs, your AWW could be based on the total hours you’d work at all jobs combined.
- Seasonal employees: For seasonal workers who only work certain months each year, AWW is calculated by dividing your total annual earnings by 52.
- Employees paid monthly: If you are paid monthly at your job, your AWW is calculated by multiplying your monthly pay by 12, then dividing by 52.
- Employees paid annually: For salaried employees paid yearly, AWW would simply be your annual salary divided by 52.
- Employees with irregular pay schedules: If you are paid irregularly or under a different structure than those above, your AWW would include your total earnings during the 26 weeks before the injury, divided by your days actually worked, then multiplied by your average days worked each week.
Understanding how your average weekly wage (AWW) is calculated is essential for ensuring you receive the proper compensation in a workers’ compensation claim, as it directly impacts the benefits you’re entitled to.
Why You Should Seek Legal Advice for Your Workers’ Compensation Claim
Understanding how workers’ compensation is calculated in Louisiana is not easy. If you have not been injured in a workplace accident before, it is hard to know where to start–and what you are entitled to. This is where a knowledgeable Louisiana workplace injury lawyer can help show you the way. At Kenny Habetz Injury Law, we are eager to help you navigate the tricky path of a workers’ compensation claim. Don’t wait to get your claim started. Call our law office today to schedule your free consultation.
Contact the Louisiana Law Firm Of Kenny Habetz Injury Law for Help Today
If you’ve been injured please call Kenny Habetz Injury Law for a free case evaluation with a Louisiana personal injury lawyer or contact us online. We have offices in Lafayette and Crowley, LA.
Kenny Habetz Injury Law – Lafayette
110 E Kaliste Saloom Rd Ste 101 Lafayette, LA 70508
(337) 399-9000
Kenny Habetz Injury Law – Crowley
604 S Parkerson Ave. Crowley, LA 70526
(337) 329-8883
