How Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is Calculated for South Carolina Workers' Compensation
Your South Carolina workers' compensation check is calculated at exactly 66 2/3% of your Average Weekly Wage (AWW). To maximize your benefits, your AWW must legally include your base pay plus any mandatory overtime, reported tips, and regular bonuses earned in the 52 weeks prior to your injury.
When you are injured on the job in South Carolina and a doctor takes you out of work, you are entitled to weekly compensation checks. However, these checks do not replace your full paycheck. Knowing exactly how the insurance company calculates your payment is vital. Insurance adjusters frequently make "mistakes" in their math-almost always in a way that pays you less than you deserve. Whether you work in a warehouse in Charleston or a restaurant in Myrtle Beach, ensuring the math is right is your responsibility.
The foundation of your workers' compensation benefit is a number called your Average Weekly Wage (AWW). The state has a highly specific legal formula for calculating this number. It is not just a matter of looking at your last paycheck. It looks at a full year of your financial history with the company, and it must include extra forms of income that employers often try to hide.
The Standard AWW Formula (66 2/3% Rule)
Under S.C. Code Ann. § 42-1-40, the baseline rule for calculating your AWW is to take your total gross earnings (before taxes) from the 52 weeks immediately preceding your injury and divide that number by 52. Once your AWW is established, your weekly workers' compensation check-known as your compensation rate-is set at 66 2/3% (or roughly two-thirds) of that AWW.
For example, if you earned exactly $52,000 in the last year, your Average Weekly Wage is $1,000. Your workers' compensation check will be 66 2/3% of that, which equals $666.67 per week.
Factoring in Mandatory Overtime and Bonuses
Insurance companies love to calculate your AWW using only your standard 40-hour hourly rate. This is legally incorrect if you regularly work overtime. Under South Carolina law, Commission regulation S.C. Code Regs. § 67-1603(B) strictly mandates that gross pay for overtime and bonuses must be included in your wage calculation. Furthermore, production bonuses, shift differentials, and attendance bonuses must be added to your total earnings before dividing by 52.
How Per Diems Are Treated
If you are a traveling nurse, a truck driver, or a construction worker who receives a "per diem" (a daily allowance for food and lodging), can that be included in your AWW? In South Carolina, a per diem is only included in your wage calculation if it represents real economic gain. If the per diem exactly matches your out-of-pocket expenses for hotels and meals, it is not considered income. But if you receive a flat $100 a day and only spend $40, the $60 profit is part of your wages.
Calculating Tips for Hospitality Workers
For waiters, bartenders, and bellhops, base hourly pay is often a fraction of actual income. The law allows tips to be included in your AWW, but there is a strict catch: you can only include tips that you formally reported to your employer for tax purposes. Cash tips that you pocketed and hid from your W-2 cannot legally be used to boost your workers' compensation rate.
The South Carolina Maximum Weekly Compensation Rate
Even if you are a high-earning executive making $200,000 a year, there is a hard ceiling on how much you can receive. Every year, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, Columbia calculates the state's average weekly wage. Based on this data, the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission, Columbia sets a Maximum Weekly Compensation Rate for injuries occurring that year. If your personal 66 2/3% calculation is higher than the state maximum for the year you were injured, your check is legally capped at the maximum limit.
How Much Does an AWW Dispute Cost?
If you discover the insurance company is underpaying your weekly rate, you should demand a correction.
- Correcting the Math: Requesting the insurance adjuster to recalculate based on missing overtime or bonuses costs nothing.
- Filing a Dispute: If they refuse, your attorney will file Form 50, South Carolina, Workers' Compensation Commission, Employee's Notice of Claim and/or Request for Hearing to force a judge to fix the rate. The filing fee is $50.
- Lawyer Fees: An attorney from our directory will not charge you out of pocket. They handle the dispute on a contingency fee (maximum 33.3%). If the rate is raised, they may take a portion of the back-pay you are owed.
How Long Does it Take to Fix an AWW Error?
An insurance adjuster can fix a math error in 24 hours if provided with proper payroll records. However, if they refuse to acknowledge your overtime or bonuses and force you to request a hearing, it will take 3 to 5 months to present your case before a Workers' Compensation Commissioner. If you win, the judge will order the insurance company to pay you a lump sum for all the money you were underpaid retroactively.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What if I worked at the company for less than 52 weeks before I got hurt?
If you were employed for a shorter period, the law allows the court to divide your total earnings by the exact number of weeks you worked, or to use the wages of another employee doing the same job to find a fair average.
Can I include wages from my second job?
Yes. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 42-1-40, as established in Brunson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 344 S.C. 107 (SC Court of Appeals 2001), South Carolina law allows the Commission to combine wages from concurrent jobs under exceptional circumstances to calculate a fair AWW.
Are taxes taken out of my workers' compensation check?
No. Workers' compensation checks for lost wages are completely exempt from state and federal income taxes. You receive the full 66 2/3% amount.
Do my health insurance benefits count towards my AWW?
Fringe benefits, such as the value of employer-provided health insurance or retirement contributions, are generally not included in the calculation of your Average Weekly Wage.
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your experience!