Case Name: James JACKSON, Appellant, v. HOCHADEL ROOFING COMPANY and Claims Center, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1995-07-13
Citations: 657 So. 2d 1266
Docket Number: No. 93-3396
Parties: James JACKSON, Appellant, v. HOCHADEL ROOFING COMPANY and Claims Center, Appellees.
Judges: ALLEN, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 657
Pages: 1266–1271

Head Matter:
James JACKSON, Appellant, v. HOCHADEL ROOFING COMPANY and Claims Center, Appellees.
No. 93-3396.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
July 13, 1995.
James A. Sheehan of James A. Sheehan, P.A., St. Petersburg, for appellant.
Robert W. Glass of Matusek, MeKnight, Poluse & Cangro, P.A., St. Petersburg, for appellees.

Opinion:
DAVIS, Judge.
James Jackson has appealed the calculation of his average weekly wage. His injuries were incurred in the course and scope of his employment, and the only dispute below concerned the correct calculation of his average weekly wage (AWW). There is competent substantial evidence to support the JCC's determination of a fair and reasonable average weekly wage, and accordingly, we affirm.
The appellant agrees that the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) was correct in utilizing section 440.14(l)(d), Florida Statutes, rather than the thirteen week formula in subsection (a). There was competent substantial evidence to support the conclusion that Mr. Jackson did not work substantially the whole of the thirteen weeks preceding his injury because the business was closed down for two weeks during which it was customarily open in other years. See, e.g., Spartan Electronics v. Russell, 513 So.2d 153 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (deputy commissioner correctly determined AWW under section 440.14(l)(d) by using the eleven weeks preceding the injury, when the thirteen week period specified by subsection (a) was inapplicable because the employee was laid off or the plant was closed for two of those thirteen weeks).
Mr. Jackson asserts, however, that the JCC erred in the manner of calculating his AWW under section 440.14(l)(d). First, Mr. Jackson asserts that his AWW should have been calculated based upon a contract for hire at $11 an hour for a forty hour week. While there was competent substantial evidence to support the claim that there was a contract for hire at $11 an hour for a forty hour week, this contention must fail because there is also competent substantial evidence to support the determination of the JCC that claimant did not have a contract for hire entitling him to forty hours a week of work or pay, including the testimony of both Mr. Jackson and his employer. See Greater Florida Outdoor Advertising v. Dichristina, 591 So.2d 1090 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) ("The pertinent figure for a contracted salary is the amount which the claimant is legally entitled to earn."). When there is no contractual provision governing the number of hours the claimant will work per week, the JCC must calculate the AWW based upon the actual wages earned. See Orange-Co of Florida v. Waldrop, 454 So.2d 724, 725 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); see also Waldorf v. Jefferson County School Bd., 622 So.2d 515 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (calculating fair and reasonable AWW for part-time substitute bus driver which accounted for the small number of hours he worked); Alternan Transport Lines v. Rust, 547 So.2d 337 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (JCC must look to the customary full time hours of employment in the particular case to determine whether the claimant had worked substantially the whole of the thirteen weeks preceding the injury). The JCC did not err in determining that the facts of this ease required her to calculate AWW based upon this claimant's actual wages rather than upon a contract for hire. Brack v. Glen Johnson, Inc., 418 So.2d 1209, 1211 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).
Next, Mr. Jackson asserts that the JCC failed to compute a fair and reasonable AWW under this method because the weeks used to compute the AWW were a slack time. The JCC calculated the AWW based upon the actual wages as indicated in a wage statement provided by the employer, which statement showed the wages earned over a fourteen week period preceding the claimant's injury, but omitted one week in which there were no earnings from the calculation of the average.
The JCC has broad discretion in determining a fair and reasonable calculation of average weekly wage under section 440.14(l)(d). See, e.g., Mayflower Corp. v. Wilma O. Davis, 655 So.2d 1134 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Spartan Electronics v. Russell, 513 So.2d 153 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (deputy commissioner correctly determined AWW under section 440.14(l)(d) by using the eleven weeks preceding the injury, when the thirteen week period specified by subsection (a) was inapplicable because the employee was laid off or the plant was closed for two of those thirteen weeks); Bruck v. Glen Johnson, Inc., 418 So.2d 1209 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982) (calculating AWW based upon actual wages pursuant to subsection (d) utilizing the three days preceding the accident); Florida Cast Stone v. Dehart, 418 So.2d 1271 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982) (calculating fair and reasonable AWW based upon actual wages pursuant to subsection (d) utilizing the five weeks preceding the injury and exercising discretion to exclude two earlier weeks in which the claimant had lower earnings). In this case the JCC made a determination based upon the only evidence which was presented to the court, and the resulting calculation of AWW is based upon competent substantial evidence in the record. Therefore, we conclude that the JCC appropriately exercised her discretion in determining what was a fair and reasonable AWW. See, e.g., Waldorf v. Jefferson County School Bd., 622 So.2d 515 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (JCC did not err under the facts in this case in taking earnings from the four weeks preceding the injury and dividing by thirteen to calculate the AWW). The burden was on the claimant to produce evidence of the correct AWW. Linderman v. Kirkland's Restaurant, 127 So.2d 888, 889 (Fla.1961); Western Auto v. Moore, 567 So.2d 972, 974 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). In this case, the claimant produced no evidence of his actual wages at any time, and the only evidence upon which the JCC could rely in calculating Mr. Jackson's average weekly wage based upon his actual wages were the wage statements provided by the employer. Accordingly, the order of the Judge of Compensation Claims is AFFIRMED.
ALLEN, J., concurs.
WENTWORTH, Senior Judge, dissents with written opinion.