When you’re off work as result of a work-related injury, you receive Temporary Total Disability (TTD) which is about 80% of what your net. The exact figure, known as your “compensation rate”, is determined by looking at the two years before you were injured, picking the best of those two years and then applying a formula that was developed by the Workers Compensation Board.
Most workers feel that the amount they receive is unfair because it is not as much as they were bringing home and most people need every dime they earn to pay the bills. The Board’s justification for the ruling is that it is equally unfair to everyone and no one should be singled out for particularly unfair treatment.
You can seek to have your TTD increased if the amount is incorrect or if when it was calculated it failed to take into consideration a second income or benefits. As a rule, most people’s income will be determined by their net wages earned in the two years before the injury.
The formula is adjusted every year so every year there is a new bulletin published setting out the compensation rates. To access the bulletins, visit the Workers Compensation Board’s website: http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/bulletins.htm.
If you have any questions regarding your case, the Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.
For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.