Were you the victim of an accident that left you hospitalized and unable to return to work? If so, chances are that you are focused on the cost associated with the recovery and being compensated for your loses. However, personal injury compensation doesn't end at your medical bill. You may be able to receive compensation for the time that you spent away from work due to having to recover. Here are some things to consider to make sure you receive the maximum compensation possible.
Sick and PTO Days
Was your time in the hospital short enough where it was covered under normal sick days? That doesn't mean that you should not consider these sick days when it comes to the compensation that you are seeking. Sick days are earned over the course of a year, and if you use up all of your sick days, then you will start to dip into your personal days. While your injury may not have taken any time off away from you at the time of the injury, you could end up paying for it down the road. Make sure to document all days that you took off due to the injury, even if it's a sick day. The same mindset applies if you need to start using PTO during recovery from the injury.
Hourly And Salary Workers
If you are an hourly worker, it should be pretty easy to calculate how much time you are owed due to having direct compensation with your wages. You will need to prove how many hours a week you have been working prior to the injury, and use that as a base to determine how many days you missed. If you work 35 hours in a week and were hospitalized for 7 days, using that 35-hour figure is a good way to come up with a fair amount of lost wages.
Salary workers can take their annual salary and divide it by the number of days that you work. You can calculate your compensation by determining how many working days you missed and would not receive compensation for.
Need help determining how much you should be owed in lost wages? Work with a personal injury lawyer in your area. They will be able to let you know how much money you are owed for the days that you were staying at home and unable to work. You may be surprised at how these wages can quickly add up.