When you receive payments under workers’ compensation, you will not receive your full payment. The system only pays out a percentage, and the benefit depends on your average weekly wage.
The Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission explains there are also limits set for how much you can receive through the system.
Average weekly wage
Your average weekly wage depends on your most recent earnings. It will not look at overall what your earnings have been at the job. So, if you had time off over the weeks just prior to your injury, that will factor into how much you get through benefits. You will get only 75% of what the insurer figures to be your average weekly wage.
Limit
The state sets a maximum weekly average wage for anyone collecting benefits within the system. For the fiscal year starting October 1, 2022, that wage was set by the state at $1,509. This means you cannot receive more than this amount per week even if your average weekly wage is higher.
The state also sets a minimum limit. This is about 20% of the maximum. Do note the limits change regularly. They actually went up considerably in 2022 because of record-high inflation rates that greatly increased the cost of living in the United States during that year.
Collecting pay from the workers’ compensation system is not an exact replacement for the wages you lose. The idea is to help you get by until you can return to work. The ultimate goal is always for you to go back to work the job you had prior to the injury or for you to get assistance from the system to find other employment that will allow you to earn a living outside of the workers’ compensation system.
