Benefits increased for newly promoted manager

In Nevada, if a worker changed jobs when she was injured and no 12-week or four-week history of earnings is available for the new job, a finding of her primary job at the time of the accident is needed to calculate her average monthly wage.

Case name: City of North Las Vegas v. Warburton, No. 55502 (Nev. 10/06/11).

Ruling: The Nevada Supreme Court held that a recently promoted manager was entitled to benefits calculated at the wage of her new position even though she was still receiving her lesser wage at the time she was injured.

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What it means: In Nevada, if a worker changed jobs at the time she was injured such that no 12-week or four-week history of earnings is available for the new job, a finding of her primary job at the time of the accident is needed to calculate her average monthly wage.

Summary: A water safety instructor for a city was promoted to a pool manager. She expected to earn $12 per hour because of the promotion, but she was paid only $10 per hour while the promotion was being processed. Pools in the city had sustained damage from vandalism, so the manager's supervisor asked her and others to check on the pools. The manager picked up her paycheck and uniforms from one pool and was driving to another when she was injured in a car accident. After a determination that her injures arose out of and in the course of her employment, the city began paying her benefits using the rate of $10 per hour to calculate her average monthly wage. The manager appealed the determination of her benefits. The Nevada Supreme Court held that her benefits should have been determined based on the pay rate of $12 per hour.

The court determined that the calculation based on her pay of $10 per hour did not "reasonably and fairly" determine the amount of her benefits. Evidence showed that her primary job at the time was a pool manager. She performed all the duties of a pool manager, had been given keys to the pool, and other workers viewed her as their manager. She also viewed herself as a pool manager and knew she was going to earn $12 per hour.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

November 10, 2011

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