Seasonal Workers
Calculating Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Seasonal Employees
As we hit the summer months, let’s examine how we calculate worker’s compensation benefits for those employees in seasonal positions. In Illinois, seasonal employees are generally eligible for the same worker’s compensation benefits as year-round employees. These benefits include having your medical expenses covered, receiving temporary total disability while you are off work and permanent partial disability if you suffer a physical impairment but can return to your regular job duties.
However, a frequent issue that arises for seasonal employees is how to calculate their average weekly wage, because seasonal employees do not work full time or year-round. Seasonal employees’ average weekly wage can vary greatly from those who are in full-time positions.
In Illinois, for full-time employees your average weekly wage is based upon how much you earned during the 52 weeks prior to your injury. But, as we talked about earlier, what if you are a seasonal employee and didn’t work for 52 weeks prior to the injury?
Let’s look at some of the provisions for this calculation:
The 52 week rule – In this scenario, we add up all of your earnings (typically excluding overtime and bonuses) for the 52 weeks prior to your injury and simply divide by 52. This is most common for full time employees who worked 52 weeks prior to injury.
Lost time rule – If the injured worker lost 5 or more days during the 52 weeks prior to the injury, you can subtract those days from the 52 weeks and then divide by the remaining weeks.
Working less than 52 weeks rule – If you worked less than 52 weeks leading up to your injury you can divide your earning by the actual number of weeks works. This is what we would be looking at for seasonal employees.
Similar role rule – This is where you worked for only a short period of time and we use the average weekly wage of someone in the same or similar position to calculate your average weekly wage.
If you are a seasonal worker who has been injured on the job contact the attorneys at Adeszko, Abate & Green, LLC for a free consultation at (312) 500-0707 to discuss protecting your rights today.