HB 0927 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to workers' compensation; amending s.
3	440.14, F.S.; revising the basis upon which to compute
4	average weekly wages for purposes of compensation;
5	providing an effective date.
6
7	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
8
9	Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 440.14, Florida
10	Statutes, is amended to read:
11	440.14 Determination of pay.--
12	(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the
13	average weekly wages of the injured employee as of the date of
14	the accidentat the time of the injuryshall be taken as the
15	basis upon which to compute compensation and shall be
16	determined, subject to the limitations of s. 440.12(2), as
17	follows:
18	(a) If the injured employee has worked in the employment
19	in which she or he was working as of the date of the accidentat
20	the time of the injury, whether for the same or another
21	employer, during substantially the whole of 13 weeks immediately
22	preceding the injury, her or his average weekly wage shall be
23	one-thirteenth of the total amount of wages earned in such
24	employment during the 13 weeks. As used in this paragraph, the
25	term "substantially the whole of 13 weeks" means the calendar
26	shall be deemed to mean and refer to a constructiveperiod of 13
27	weeks as a whole, which shall be defined as the 13 weeks before
28	the date of the accident, excluding the week during which the
29	accident occurred.a consecutive period of 91 days, andThe term
30	"during substantially the whole of 13 weeks" shall be deemed to
31	mean during not less than 7590 percent of the total customary
32	full-timehours of employment within such period considered as a
33	whole.
34	(b) If the injured employee has not worked in such
35	employment during substantially the whole of 13 weeks
36	immediately preceding the injury, the wages of a similar
37	employee in the same employment who has worked substantially the
38	whole of such 13 weeks shall be used in making the determination
39	under the preceding paragraph.
40	(c) If an employee is a seasonal worker and the foregoing
41	method cannot be fairly applied in determining the average
42	weekly wage, then the employee may use, instead of the 13 weeks
43	immediately preceding the injury, the calendar year or the 52
44	weeks immediately preceding the injury. The employee will have
45	the burden of proving that this method will be more reasonable
46	and fairer than the method set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b)
47	and, further, must document prior earnings with W-2 forms,
48	written wage statements, or income tax returns. The employer
49	shall have 30 days following the receipt of this written proof
50	to adjust the compensation rate, including the making of any
51	additional payment due for prior weekly payments, based on the
52	lower rate compensation.
53	(d) If any of the foregoing methods cannot reasonably and
54	fairly be applied, the full-time weekly wages of the injured
55	employee shall be used, except as otherwise provided in
56	paragraph (e) or paragraph (f).
57	(e) If it is established that the injured employee was
58	under 22 years of age when injured and that under normal
59	conditions her or his wages should be expected to increase
60	during the period of disability, the fact may be considered in
61	arriving at her or his average weekly wages.
62	(f) If it is established that the injured employee was a
63	part-time worker at the time of the injury, that she or he had
64	adopted part-time employment as a customary practice, and that
65	under normal working conditions she or he probably would have
66	remained a part-time worker during the period of disability,
67	these factors shall be considered in arriving at her or his
68	average weekly wages. For the purpose of this paragraph, the
69	term "part-time worker" means an individual who customarily
70	works less than the full-time hours or full-time workweek of a
71	similar employee in the same employment.
72	(g) If compensation is due for a fractional part of the
73	week, the compensation for such fractional part shall be
74	determined by dividing the weekly compensation rate by the
75	number of days employed per week to compute the amount due for
76	each day.
77	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.