If you are forced to miss work due to an accident or other incident that is not your fault, you may have a lost wages claim against an individual, business or insurance company. In order to assess a lost wages claim, you must provide proof of your pay and a calculation of lost wages based on your scheduled work hours or averaged work hours if your hours are not the same every week. Providing a clear, accurate calculation of lost wages along with paperwork to support your claim is key to receiving the entire amount of your loss.
Divide your annual salary by 2,080 in order to achieve your rate per hour. For example, if you make $60,000 a year, then $60,000 divided by 2,080 equals an hourly rate of $28.85.
2
Multiply the number of work days missed by 8 to get the total number of work hours missed. For example, if you missed a week of work, then 8 hours times 5 working days equals 40 hours of work missed.
3
Multiply the hourly rate determined in Step 1 by the number of hours missed determined in Step 2 to determine lost wages. For example, 40 hours times $28.85 equals total lost wages of $1,154.
Hourly Employees
1
Determine the total number of regular hours missed from work. If your hours vary from week to week, you can take an average of the last 2 months of work or use the hours you were scheduled to work, if your employer assigns scheduled hours prior to a work week.
2
Determine any overtime hours you would have worked. If you consistently work overtime, take an average of overtime hours worked over the prior 2 months, or use scheduled overtime hours, if available.
3
Multiply the total number of regular work hours missed by your hourly rate. For example, if you missed 40 regular work hours and your hourly rate is $12, then 40 times $12 equals $480 in lost regular wages.
4
Multiply your hourly rate times 1.5 to determine your overtime rate. For example, $12 times 1.5 equals an overtime rate of $18 an hour.
5
Multiply the overtime hours lost by the overtime rate calculated in Step 4. For example, if you lost 5 hours of overtime pay, then 5 times $18 equals $90 in lost overtime wages.
6
Add the lost regular wages and lost overtime wages together to obtain total lost wages. For example, $480 plus $90 equals total lost wages of $570.
Tips & Warnings
Always supply paperwork to support your claim for lost wages.
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