Can an injured claimant combine wages from several jobs ?
In personal injury cases, if the car crash, dog attack or injury residuals results in your being unable to perform your job, your second job, your seasonal work or even your weekend job, these losses can all be combined in the claim for compensation and jury trial. There is no requirement that they be similar kinds of work or that they be done in the weeks leading up to the accidental injury.
In Social Security Disability Income cases, the Federal government adds up your earnings from ALL sources, regardless of their similarity, or even their having been performed close in time to the date of onset of the disabling medical condition.
Lastly, in workplace injury cases, the Virginia Workers Compensation law provides that the wages from “similar employment” can be combined. The Virginia Court of Appeals has stated that, “When an injured employee is disabled from performing his employment duties, the employee’s earnings include the earnings from two or more jobs that are substantially similar.” In determining whether two employments are substantially similar, the Commission considers each job’s particular duties and general nature. In addition to determining whether the jobs involve the overlapping of specific duties and skills, the Workers Compensation Commission also looks to the primary mission of both employments. Shown here with injury lawyer Doug Landau is an ABRAMS LANDAU client at our Herndon, Virginia office building, with her settlement check, which included her wage loss from both the job where she injured her cervical spine AND her SECOND JOB as well.