Your average weekly wage is one of the most important numbers in your workers’ compensation case because it determines the amount of your weekly indemnity check. Under Rhode Island law, you generally receive 62% of your average weekly wage while you are out on workers’ comp. A Rhode Island workers compensation attorney can help you understand how this number is calculated, but the formula itself is set by statute. To determine the average weekly wage, the law looks at your earnings over the 13 weeks before your injury and incorporates overtime and bonuses averaged over the prior year. When you total the 13 weeks of earnings and factor in an average of overtime and bonuses, you get your official average weekly wage—62% of which becomes your weekly benefit amount. You can review our RI workers’ comp benefits  for a clearer breakdown of how wage calculations impact your claim. For further context, you may also want to explore related topics like work-related injury qualifications or eligibility rules which often determine when wage calculation becomes relevant.

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