Document name

Determination of a Worker’s Daily Rate of Benefits

Document number

POL 34/2010

Average weekly earnings, as determined by Section 70(1) of The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 (the “Act”), means the greater of:

1. 1. One fifty-second of the worker’s earnings for a period of 12 months preceding the commencement of the worker’s loss of earnings resulting from the injury; and
   2. The rate of daily, weekly, monthly or other regular gross earnings that the worker was receiving at the commencement of the worker’s loss of earnings resulting from the injury converted, the case of a daily, monthly or other rate that is not a weekly rate, to a weekly amount.

Daily rate of benefits means the weekly rate of benefits divided by the number of days worked in a seven day period.

Irregular rest days occur when a worker’s days off fluctuate from week to week, or month to month.

Regular rest days occur when a worker receives the same days off every week (e.g., every week the worker works from Monday to Friday, and Saturday and Sunday are the worker’s rest days).

Repeating cycle rest days occur when the number of days off repeat during the worker’s normal work cycle (e.g., 3 weeks on, 1 week off).

1. Section 20 of the Act directs that the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) shall have exclusive jurisdiction to examine, hear and determine all matters and questions arising under this Act and any other matter in respect of which a power, authority or discretion is conferred upon the WCB and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the WCB shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine “the average earnings.”
2. Section 68(1) of the Act states that where injury to a worker results in a loss of earnings beyond the day of the injury, the WCB shall determine the loss of earnings resulting from the injury and shall ensure compensation to the worker.
3. Section 69(1) of the Act directs that the calculation of the loss of earnings for the purposes of subsection 68(1) and Sections 71 and 72 must be based on the difference between:
   1. The worker’s average weekly earnings at the commencement of the worker’s loss of earnings resulting from the injury, increased annually by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index; and
   2. The weekly earnings that the worker is receiving from employment.
4. Section 69(3) states that any adjustments are subject to the maximum wage rate for that year.

1. When the WCB provides earnings loss benefits to a worker based on the worker’s average weekly earnings, the WCB will pay a daily rate for every missed work day resulting from the injury. To pay a daily rate, the WCB will determine the number of days worked in a seven day period, and whether the rest days are regular, repeating cycle or irregular.
2. The daily rate of earnings loss benefits will be determined by dividing the weekly rate by the number of days worked in a seven day period.