What Is a Loss of Wages Letter?

Workman’s Compensation is administered on a State by State basis. Every State has a colloquialism for the letter that is sent to an injured worker stating the amount of benefits he will receive pursuant to his claim for Workman’s Compensation Insurance benefits. Some states call this notice letter a “Loss of Wages” letter. No matter what it is called in the State where your injury occurred it is an important letter the is intended to provide notice to the injured worker of the amount of wages that they believe he was earning per week prior to becoming injured on the job, the amount calculated by the insurer as your average monthly wage based on the information received from the employer and the amount of benefits that you can expect to receive on a weekly basis.

How It Works

The injured worked must have suffered a work related injury that has caused him or her to be out of work for a minimum of five days in a row to be eligible for compensation, (or it can be five days that are not in a row but are within a twenty day time period but again check the laws specific to your employer’s State), and the Loss of Wages letter will be sent to the injured worker advising him of the amount of benefits he can expect to be paid on a weekly basis as benefits. In some States the benefits will be approximately sixty per cent of the average earnings and in other States it may be a little higher such as sixty six percent of the total average weekly wages. The Loss of Wages letter will state what percentage of the average weekly wages will be used to determine the final weekly benefit amount. The determination amount must be correct because your final settlement is based on this figure.If you think the figure is wrong it is important to file an appeal of the decision noticed by the Loss of Wages letter.

Getting Legal Help

If you or a member of your family was injured at work and has provided formal notice to the employer of the injury and resulting inability to work until it resolves and you are waiting to receive a Loss of Wages letter concerning your benefits it may be helpful to discuss the circumstances of the injury and the workman’s compensation benefits with a workman’s compensation lawyer. An attorney can help by reviewing the steps taken to receive benefits and to report the injury to the employer and make sure that the benefit amount determined in the notice letter is correct as per the law in your State.

Have a Work Injury Case?