Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, workers who get injured on the job are usually entitled to two-thirds of their average pre-injury weekly wage for each qualifying week they spend out of work, in addition to coverage for necessary medical expenses. In practice, though, injured workers do not always receive this exact amount, as this same section of state law also allows for adjustments to this rate depending on how much in salary or wages a particular injured work earned prior to getting hurt.
Calculating workers’ comp rates in Levittown can be surprisingly complicated and difficult to manage alone. Fortunately, help is available from dedicated workers’ comp lawyers who understand how these adjustments work and could help you pursue the maximum benefits available based on your income level.
The amount of weekly wage replacement benefits available to any worker who gets hurt on the job in Levittown is based on the average weekly wage calculated for the year prior to the work injury. The percentage of your average weekly wage you receive depends on your average weekly wage. Lower wage earners get paid up to 90% of their wages while higher wage earners are capped at less than 2/3 their average weekly wage.
Additionally, a worker’s average weekly wages for the purposes of a workers’ compensation claim are not limited to just their take-home pay from their primary place of employment. All of an injured Levittown worker’s sources of weekly income count towards the amount that will be used to calculate their workers’ comp rate, including wages from part-time jobs, overtime pay, tips reported to the Internal Revenue Service, work bonuses, and vacation pay.
Additionally, a worker who receives a different amount of income each week based on a variable amount of hours worked per week may have a slightly different calculated average wage than someone who makes the same amount each week, based on how long the hourly worker has worked for their current employer. A seasoned workers’ comp attorney could explain how this formula works in greater detail during a private consultation.
There are four blocks that workers may fall into based on the amount of money they earned on average each week prior to suffering a work-related injury, each of which allows for a different calculated workers’ comp rates for an injured Levittown worker. As of 2021, individuals who make more than $1,695.01 in an average week are eligible to receive no more than the maximum weekly workers’ comp rate of $1,130.00. This is an increase of 4.6 percent over the applicable maximum in 2020, which was $1,081.00 per week.
Workers who made between $847.51 and $1,695.00 prior to getting injured can receive two-thirds of their pre-injury average weekly wage as workers’ comp benefits, while workers who make an average of between $627.78 and $847.50 each week may receive $565.00 per week regardless of their exact pre-injury average weekly income. Finally, individuals who made less than $627.77 per week before an on-the-job injury can receive 90 percent of their weekly salary in workers’ comp benefits.
Although state law establishes clear lines between blocks of workers when it comes to workers’ comp benefits, determining exactly what sources of income count towards weekly wages in this context can be deceptively complicated. This is just one reason why retaining professional legal help can be so important when calculating workers’ comp rates in Levittown.
Working with a workers’ comp lawyer could ensure you are able to pursue all the benefits you are eligible for without burdening yourself alone with all the stresses of the claims process. Call today to schedule a consultation.
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