GQ Corner

Q:  Claimant normally earns approximately $900 per week; however, during the 13 weeks immediately prior to the date of injury, there were six weeks where claimant earned substantially less than $900 because inclement weather prevented him from performing his regular job. The inclement weather impacted all of claimant’s co-workers as well. Would these six weeks be included in the claimant’s Average Weekly Wage?

A. According to Rule 128.3(g), these six weeks would probably not be included in the claimant’s AWW. 128.3(g) states that “…if the employee has lost time from work, without remuneration, during the said 13-week period due to illness, weather, or other cause beyond the control of the employee, the commission may determine the employee’s average weekly wage by any method that it considers fair, just, and reasonable to all parties and consistent with the methods established under this section.” Case law has endorsed an averaging of the remaining weeks to calculate a fair, just, and reasonable average weekly wage.

Q: Is interest required if we receive notice that the insured discontinued a non-pecuniary benefit or is interest only due if we fail to adjust the AWW within 7 days of receiving notice that the non-pecuniary wages were discontinued?

A: Per Rule 126.12, interest is required from the date benefits were due to the date of payment.