Z-1025.2 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 3039
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 2000 Regular Session
By Representative Conway
Read first time 01/26/2000. Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.
AN ACT Relating to the inclusion of the value of employer-provided health insurance in the calculation of an injured worker's wage at time of injury; and amending RCW 51.08.178.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 51.08.178 and 1988 c 161 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) For the purposes of this title, the monthly wages the worker was receiving from all employment at the time of injury shall be the basis upon which compensation is computed unless otherwise provided specifically in the statute concerned. In cases where the worker's wages are not fixed by the month, they shall be determined by multiplying the daily wage the worker was receiving at the time of the injury:
(a) By five, if the worker was normally employed one day a week;
(b) By nine, if the worker was normally employed two days a week;
(c) By thirteen, if the worker was normally employed three days a week;
(d) By eighteen, if the worker was normally employed four days a week;
(e) By twenty-two, if the worker was normally employed five days a week;
(f) By twenty-six, if the worker was normally employed six days a week;
(g) By thirty, if the worker was normally employed seven days a week.
(2)
The term "wages" shall include the reasonable value of board,
housing, and fuel((, or other consideration of like nature))
received from the employer as part of the contract of hire, but shall not
include overtime pay except in cases under subsection (((2))) (4)
of this section. However, tips shall also be considered wages only to the
extent such tips are reported to the employer for federal income tax purposes.
The daily wage shall be the hourly wage multiplied by the number of hours the
worker is normally employed. The number of hours the worker is normally
employed shall be determined by the department in a fair and reasonable manner,
which may include averaging the number of hours worked per day.
(((2)))
(3) For the sole purpose of calculating wage replacement benefits and death
benefits under RCW 51.32.050, 51.32.060, and 51.32.090, the cost actually paid
by the employer for any medical and dental insurance provided to the worker at
the time of injury shall be added to the worker's total monthly wages under
this section. This subsection shall not apply during any period in which the
employer continues the same level of medical and dental benefits that were
provided at the time of injury.
(4) In cases where (a) the worker's employment is exclusively seasonal in nature or (b) the worker's current employment or his or her relation to his or her employment is essentially part-time or intermittent, the monthly wage shall be determined by dividing by twelve the total wages earned, including overtime, from all employment in any twelve successive calendar months preceding the injury which fairly represent the claimant's employment pattern.
(((3)))
(5) If, within the twelve months immediately preceding the injury, the
worker has received from the employer at the time of injury a bonus as part of the
contract of hire, the average monthly value of such bonus shall be included in
determining the worker's monthly wages.
(((4)))
(6) In cases where a wage has not been fixed or cannot be reasonably and
fairly determined, the monthly wage shall be computed on the basis of the usual
wage paid other employees engaged in like or similar occupations where the
wages are fixed.
(7) The department shall adopt such rules as may be necessary to implement this section.
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