Fact Checked Under Wisconsin law, injured workers are entitled to 2/3 (66.67%) of their average weekly wage while off work following a work injury. An employee’s average weekly wage (sometimes referred to as AWW) is fixed as of the date of injury. For most employees, the average weekly wage is calculated based on the assumption of being a “full time” worker. In short, the average weekly wage is the higher of: (1) the employee’s hourly wage multiplied by the hours regularly scheduled to work at the time of injury; or (2) the actual gross earnings during the 52-week period before the injury divided by the number of weeks worked during that period.
Frequent errors occur in the calculation of an injured worker’s average weekly wage. For example, any employee who works beyond 40 hours a week, commissioned employees, or tipped employees, could be underpaid because their gross earnings should be used to calculate the average weekly wage and not the hourly wage multiplied by the regularly scheduled hours.
Injured workers should be aware that the average weekly wage calculation has impacts on other benefits under Wisconsin worker’s compensation law. If you are an injured worker and have questions about what you are being paid, you should reach out to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to discuss.
