If you’ve sustained an injury that led you to miss work, you may be entitled to compensation for your lost wages. In order to make a claim for them, you’ll probably have to calculate your average weekly wage, also called AWW. In this article, we’ll define the average weekly wage and explain how it is calculated for personal injury claims.

Key Takeaways

• Average weekly wage (AWW) is a calculation of how much an employee makes in a week.
• There are different ways to calculate AWW depending on how an individual is paid
• AWW can be used to determine the damages somebody is owed for lost wages by their personal injury insurance in the event of an injury that causes them to miss work

What Is Average Weekly Wage?

Average weekly wage, or AWW, is a way to calculate an employee’s average earnings on a typical week. It is one of two figures used to calculate lost wages in the event of a personal injury claim. The other is average daily wage, or ADW, which is similar but for daily rather than weekly earnings. Average weekly wage is the more popular figure used, with average daily wage only being chosen if the AWW is considered to be inaccurate. 

There are a few ways to calculate average weekly wage. The simplest is for employees who are paid by the week. For them, the AWW is simply how much their weekly salary is.

If you are paid by the month, your average weekly wage is calculated by multiplying your monthly salary by 12 and dividing by 52. For example, if you make $2,000 a month, your average weekly wage would be $461.53.

If you have a fixed annual salary, you can calculate your average weekly wage by dividing this number by 52. For example, if you earn $40,000 per year, your average weekly wage will be  $769.23.

The most complex method of calculating average weekly wage is for hourly workers. For them, the average weekly wage is calculated by taking a number of past weeks, adding up the earnings, and dividing by the number of weeks. The exact number of weeks needed for this calculation may be different for each state and insurance provider. It is common for the number to be 52, representing a full year. 

Average Weekly Wage in Personal Injury Claims

Much of the time, injuries sustained in various ways, such as workplace accidents or sports mishaps, can lead to the injured individual being unable to work. For example, if you break your ankle on a hike and your job involves you standing on your feet all day, you might not be able to work until you heal enough to put weight on your ankle again. If this is the case, you can make a personal injury insurance claim to compensate you for the money you lose by not being able to work. 

When making a personal injury claim, you must calculate the earnings you are losing out on because of your injury. One way to do this is with average weekly wage. For example, if you can’t work for 3 weeks because of your broken ankle and your average weekly wage was calculated to be $500, you can make a claim for $1,500.

If you’re planning to try to make a personal injury claim, it’s highly recommended that you work with an experienced personal injury lawyer. He or she will be able to help you correctly calculate your average weekly wage, as well as draft a demand letter to send to your insurance company and generally go through the claims process. This is the best way to ensure that you receive a fair payout and are properly compensated for your lost wages.