By: Abbey Winslow
A lot of times, calculating a claimant’s average weekly wage and compensation rate for a Form 20 can feel like the easiest part of the job. It is something that adjusters and attorneys do each day. However, miscalculations can result in disputes with claimants and filings of Form 50s requesting hearing, so sometimes it is important to refresh ourselves on the basics.
Generally, when talking about calculating a claimant’s average weekly wage, we are using the four fiscal quarters prior to the accident but not including the quarter the accident occurred in. For example, if an accident occurred on the last day of 2025 (12/31/2025), Quarter 1 would be 10/1/2024 to 12/31/2024; Quarter 2 would be 1/1/2025 to 3/31/2025; Quarter 3 would be 4/1/2025 to 6/30/2025; and Quarter 4 would be 7/1/2025 to 9/30/2025. We would not use the last fiscal quarter of 2025 even though the accident occurred on the last day of that quarter.
However, this simple principle gets confusing when we get into what constitutes wages within those time periods. Should we use records based on the pay period end date or the check date? Best practice would be to use the check date for consistent results. One way to think about this is to think about the wages a claimant is taking home during that quarter so that you can figure out what they on average should be taking home each week.
What happens if we don’t have access to four full quarters prior to the accident? What wages should you use then?
Under S.C. § 41-1-40, you should first look to the wage records they do have and calculate average weekly wage based on wages earned during the time the claimant has worked. For example, if a claimant was hired on 1/31/2025 and was injured on 12/31/2025, you would use all the wage records between those dates, even if they enter the fourth quarter.
Average weekly wage can also be calculated using four quarters of wages of a similar employee if the period worked is too short to accurately calculate an average weekly wage. The issue with this calculation method is the fact that the similar employee must be of “the same grade and character” as the claimant. When overtime gets involved, it is hard to say a claimant would work the same number of hours of an employee that earns the same hourly rate they do. Likewise, it is hard to say whether the similar employee takes off more or less time than the claimant.
Ultimately, the goal in calculate a near approximate amount of a claimant’s weekly earnings; therefore, if all these methods fail, you may have to use another means to calculate an average weekly wage.
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