Average Weekly Wage in Texas Workers’ Compensation Claims

As the name implies your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is a calculation of the average of all weekly benefits and earnings for 13 weeks immediately preceding your on-the-job injury or illness. The AWW is used to calculate your Comp Rate (the amount of money you receive each week for Texas Workers’ Compensation income benefits).

The Employer’s Wage Statement – Within a required time frame, the employer is required to supply the insurance carrier (and the injured worker) of the total of all wages and benefits earned for 13 weeks prior to the date of injury. If the injured employee has not worked a full 13 weeks, then the wages and benefits of a similar employee would be used.

The wage information should contain all wages and benefits including overtime pay, per diem allowance, clothing allowance, travel and fuel allowance, health insurance benefits (if the employer no longer provides health insurance during the employee’s medical absence), and any other form of regular payments, benefits, or services of value that the injured employee is no longer receiving.

The employer must supply this information on the 8th day that the injured worker has begun to earn less than pre-injury wages, or as soon as the employer is notified that the employee is eligible to receive income benefits, or on the date of work-related-death of the employee. If the employer fails to do this, the employer may be fined by the state.