Texas Administrative Code › Title 28 - INSURANCE › Part 2 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION › Chapter 128 - BENEFITS - CALCULATION OF AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE › Section 128.3 - Average Weekly Wage Calculation for Full-Time Employees, and for Temporary Income Benefits for All Employees

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) All income
				benefits for full-time employees are based upon an average weekly wage
				calculated according to this rule. A full-time employee is one who regularly
				works at least 30 hours per week and that schedule is comparable to other
				employees of that company and/or other employees in the same business or
				vicinity who are considered full-time.
(b) Temporary income benefits are based on an
				average weekly wage which is calculated according to this rule for all
				employees. However, the average weekly wage for determining temporary income
				benefits of seasonal employees may be periodically adjusted as set out in
				§
									128.5(c)
				of this title (relating to Average Weekly Wage Calculation for Seasonal
				Employees).
(c) The average weekly
				wage for impairment income, supplemental income, lifetime income, and death
				benefits shall be calculated according to this section concerning full-time
				employees, §
									128.4
				of this title (relating to Average Weekly Wage Calculation for Part-Time
				Employees), or §
									128.5
				of this title (relating to Average Weekly Wage Calculation for Seasonal
				Employees). The average weekly wage for an employee who is also a minor, an
				apprentice, a trainee, or a student shall be adjusted for determining these
				income benefits (but not temporary income benefits), according to the procedure
				described in §
									128.6
				of this title (relating to Average Weekly Wage Adjustment for Certain Employees
				Who Are Also Minors, Apprentices, Trainees, or Students).
(d) If an employee has worked for 13 weeks or
				more prior to the date of injury, or if the wage at time of injury has not been
				fixed or cannot be determined, the wages paid to the employee for 13 weeks
				immediately preceding the injury are added together and divided by 13. The
				quotient is the average weekly wage for that employee.
(e) If an employee has worked for less than
				13 weeks prior to the date of injury, the wages paid to that employee are not
				considered. Instead, the wages used for the average weekly wage calculation are
				those paid by the employer to a similar employee who performs similar services,
				but who earned wages for at least 13 weeks. If there is no similar employee at
				the employer's business, the calculation is based on wages paid to a similar
				employee who performed similar services in the same vicinity, for at least 13
				weeks. When a similar employee is identified, the wages paid to that person for
				the 13 weeks immediately preceding the injury are added together, and divided
				by 13. The quotient is the average weekly wage for the injured
				employee.
(f) For purposes of
				computing average weekly wage under subsection (e) of this section, the
				following definitions apply:
(1) a similar
				employee is a person with training, experience, and skills and wages that are
				comparable to the injured employee. Age, gender, and race shall not be
				considered;
(2) similar services
				are tasks performed or services rendered that are comparable in nature to, and
				in the same class as, those performed by the injured employee, and that are
				comparable in the number of hours normally worked.