Can The Wages I Earned After My Injury At Work Be Used To Calculate The Amount Of My Disability Check For My Workers’ Compensation Claim?

This issue was addressed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Ball v. Bayada Home Health Care (2019).

In this case the injured employee began work for the employer in May 2010 and worked in a part-time position earning $8.00/hour until November 2010 when the injured employee began working a full-time position. In February 2011 the injured employee was transferred to a new position which required increased work hours and included an hourly pay increased to $10.00/hour. However, on the injured employee’s first day of work in the new position, the injured employee suffered an injury at work.

The primary issue in this case was the amount of the weekly disability checks the injured employee was entitled to receive. The employer argued this amount should be based on the average wages paid by the employer to the injured employee for the 1-year time period prior to the date of the injury at work. However, the injured employee argued the amount of the weekly disability checks should be based on the wages earned at the new position being performed when the injured employee suffered the injury at work.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals noted that there are 5 methods which may be used to calculate the amount of an injured employee’s weekly disability checks and if there is evidence that the first 4 methods are not appropriate to use for this calculation, then the 5^th method may be used. The 5^th method allows for any such method that will most nearly approximates the amount which the injured employee would be earning were it not for the injury at work.

In this case the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the injured employee’s weekly disability check amount may be calculated using the injured employee’s wages earned following the date of the injury at work.

Should you have any questions about this or any other issues involving your work-related injury, please feel free to reach out to one of the Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardinal Law Partners for a free consultation by calling (833) 444-4127.