Your average weekly wage

Enter how you were paid above. The tool computes your average weekly wage under the applicable Labor Code § 4453(c) method, shows the temporary disability rate it produces, and flags the inputs people most often get wrong. Free, nothing is saved, works on a phone.

Why this is the number worth checking first

Every benefit is a multiple of it. Temporary disability is two-thirds of it. Permanent disability rates rest on it. The life pension is computed from it. A wage figure that is $100 a week low does not cost you $100 — it costs you a percentage of every check for the life of the claim.

The carrier's figure controls until someone challenges it. The adjuster computed it on day one, from whatever wage records were easy to get. If it is wrong, nothing corrects it automatically.

Four methods, not one — Labor Code § 4453(c)

§ 4453(c)(1) — regular full-time work:

"Where the employment is for 30 or more hours a week and for five or more working days a week, the average weekly earnings shall be the number of working days a week times the daily earnings at the time of the injury."

§ 4453(c)(2) — two or more employers, and this one is missed constantly:

"Where the employee is working for two or more employers at or about the time of the injury, the average weekly earnings shall be taken as the aggregate of these earnings from all employments computed in terms of one week…"

§ 4453(c)(3) — irregular pay:

"If the earnings are at an irregular rate, such as piecework, or on a commission basis, or are specified to be by week, month, or other period, then the average weekly earnings … shall be taken as the actual weekly earnings averaged for this period of time, not exceeding one year…"

§ 4453(c)(4) — part-time, or where none of the above fits fairly:

"…the average weekly earnings shall be taken at 100 percent of the sum which reasonably represents the average weekly earning capacity of the injured employee at the time of his or her injury, due consideration being given to his or her actual earnings from all sources and employments."

If you worked a second job, or your hours varied, or you were paid partly in tips or commission, the figure the carrier used is very often the wrong one — and it multiplies through every week of every benefit in your case.