Mississippi Longshore Accidents – Determining Average Weekly Wage
April 12th, 2011Mississippi Longshore Accidents – Determining Average Weekly Wage
How To Determine Average Weekly Wage For Mississippi Longshore Accidents
by Jay Foster, Mississippi Longshore Accident Lawyer
The Longshore Harbor and Worker’s Compensation Act explains that compensation for a longshore injury is based upon an injured worker’s average weekly wage at the time of the injury. See 33 U.S.C. § 910. When a claimant worked substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding his injury, Section 910(a) of the Lonshore Harbor and Worker’s Compensation Act controls the method of calculating the average weekly wage. Section 910 provides:
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the average weekly wage of the injured employee at the time of the injury shall be taken as the basis upon which to compute compensation and shall be determined as follows:
(a) if the injured employee shall have worked in the employment in which he was working at the time of the injury, whether for the same or another employer, during substantially the whole of the year immediately preceding his injury, his average annual earnings shall consist of 300 times the average daily wage or salary for a six-day worker and 260 times the average daily wage or salary for a five day worker, which he shall have earned in such employment during the days when so employed.
Section 910(d)(1) provides that the average weekly wage is then derived by dividing the total annual earnings calculated under § 910(a) by 52.
