What determines the amount of temporary total disability compensation?
Temporary total disability benefits equate to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory maximum. If you have worked essentially the whole of the year immediately prior to your injury, your wages for that period will usually be divided by 52 to arrive at your average weekly wage. If you did not work steadily for that one-year period, computation of the average weekly wage becomes more complicated, and involves looking at earnings for weeks actually worked, the earnings of a similarly situated worker, or your wages over the prior five years. There are numerous legal decisions which address the average weekly wage issue, and each case depends upon its own particular facts. However, one significant aspect of your compensation which does not get calculated into your earnings for average weekly wage computation is the “fringe benefit” package, i.e., retirement, insurance, etc.
