David Thacker
If you have been injured in an accident, you may need to take some time off of work, especially if you have serious injuries. Unfortunately, your inability to return to work can be detrimental to your future and daily life. This is the reason the law lets you recover for lost wages. This kind of damage is one of the most frequently overlooked and misunderstood kinds. To maximize your recovery, you need to understand the details of this damage and how they may impact the level of compensation you can get for your injury.
What Lost Wages Cover
When determining the lost wages that you need to recover, your personal injury lawyer los angeles will consider the following:
- Hourly wages. You should add up your missed work and multiply the total y your hourly rate. For instance, if you were not able to work for ten days, multiply the number of hours you work every day by your hourly rates and by the number 10 for lost days of work.
- Overtime. If you tend to work overtime at work, your claim can include lost overtime. You need to show documentation of your past pay stubs to prove that you often work overtime hours.
- Bonuses. If you missed out on bonuses because of your injury, you can ask to file a compensation claim for this. To prove lost bonuses, you might have to show documentation of previous bonuses. Also, you can have your boss make a report that details how you earn bonuses and what extra compensation you may miss out on.
- Sick days. Usually, you will have to use sick days to recover from your injury. But, because of your accident, you could no longer use those sick days whenever you want. Thankfully, you have the right to compensation for the value of a sick day.
- Vacation days. As an employee, you have vacation days you could have used for a real vacation. You can ask for compensation for the value of your lost vacation day.
Proving Lost Wages
To prove lost wages, you need to get proof from your employer. Your employer can explain your lost wages by writing a letter or offering extra documentation for validation. When proving your lost wages, your employer should consider your employment title, the date you were hired, a statement that you were employed when the accident happened, pay rate, the number of hours you often work in a week, typical overtime hours, lost perks, standard overtime rate of pay, lost perks, and bonus structure. Also, you can use pay stubs, bank statements, and tax returns to help prove your lost wages.
