For many workers in New York, losing even a day’s pay could cause financial trouble. So many people live paycheck to paycheck and depend on every penny they make. If this is your situation, an injury on the job that results in lost wages could be a serious problem. While you probably know that workers’ compensation will pay for your medical expenses, do you also know you may qualify for payment for lost wages?
The Workers’ Compensation Board explains that you are not eligible for lost wage payments until you miss eight days of work. So, you only miss a week of work, you will not get paid for your time off. You would have to use vacation time or other benefits to get payment for those missed days. If you miss more than 14 days of work, though, you can get payment for all the days you missed starting from day one.
Payment is not your normal pay, though. You are only paid based on your average weekly pay for the past 52 weeks. In addition, the WCB bases your payments on the extent of your injury as well. It assigns a percentage to your injury of how much you are disabled. To figure how much you get in payment for lost wages, the WCB takes two-thirds of your average weekly pay times the percentage it assigns to your disability to get your weekly benefit amount. There is also a cap on the maximum amount you can get and the minimum amount you can get. For example, from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, the minimum amount was $150 and the maximum amount was $870.61.
One final note on these payments: they are not taxed. So, even though you will get less than your normal pay, at least you do not pay taxes on the wages. This information is for education and is not legal advice.