When you’re hurt on the job, you need to plan your finances. You may wonder if workers’ compensation will pay your full salary.
Horton & Mendez Injury Attorneys explains workers’ compensation and salary payment in NC.
Do You Get Paid Your Full Salary for NC Workers’ Compensation?
No, workers’ compensation does not pay your full salary in North Carolina. The injured worker receives 66 2/3% of their average wages before the injury. There are minimum and maximum amounts that can be paid.
What Percentage of Your Salary Does Workers’ Compensation Cover in NC?
- Workers’ compensation pays 2/3 (or 66 ⅔%) of a person’s salary in NC.
- A person’s salary is determined by their average weekly wage in the period leading up to the injury.
- Usually, a one-year period is used to calculate the average weekly wage, but there are exceptions.
- There is a maximum number of 500 weeks of pay unless an exception applies (complete loss of earning capacity).
- There is a seven-day waiting period during which no salary is paid. If the person does not work for more than 21 days, they receive back pay from the date of injury.
What is the most that workers’ compensation pays in North Carolina in 2025?
The maximum workers’ compensation weekly payment in North Carolina in 2025 is $1,380. The amount is adjusted annually.
Max Weekly Workers’ Compensation NC
Even if 66 2/3% of a person’s pay would exceed $1,380, weekly workers’ compensation payment is capped at the maximum. There is also a minimum payment of $30 per week.
The North Carolina Industrial Commission establishes the maximum using a formula.
N.C.G.S. § 97-29(i) explains the methodology for calculating the maximum weekly benefit. The new calculation is effective January 1 each year.
How Benefits Are Calculated
Determination of average weekly wage
The first step in calculating a workers’ compensation salary is determining the person’s earnings before they are hurt. Usually, the amount used is the person’s average weekly wage before the injury.
If the person has been on the job for one year or more, use the last 52 weeks. Total pay is divided by 52.
For example, a person earned $46,800 last year. Divided by 52, they earned an average of $900 per week. They may have worked for the same employer for many years, but only the previous year counts.
If a person misses more than seven calendar days of work in a row in the last year, that week isn’t counted in the calculations.
In circumstances where the person hasn’t been on the job one year or more, use the number of weeks they’ve worked and the amount paid. If this creates an unfair result, an alternative method may be used.
What if I don’t agree with my employer about my average weekly wage?
If you don’t agree with your employer about how to calculate your average weekly wage, you may request a hearing. The employer doesn’t have the final say, but you must take steps to ask for a hearing before a neutral hearing officer.
We invite you to have a consultation to see how Horton & Mendez Injury Attorneys can help.
Calculating your workers’ compensation salary
Once the average weekly wage has been determined, you can calculate your workers’ compensation amount. In the example above, the average weekly wage before injury is $900 per week. If the work disability is total, the person receives 66 2/3% of that amount or $600 per week.
In another example, a person has an average weekly wage of $2,100 per week. Two-thirds of their income is $1,400. However, their pay is capped at a maximum of $1,380 per week in 2025.
Duration of pay
Benefits are paid for up to 500 weeks from the first date of disability. An extension is possible after 425 weeks for a complete loss of wage-earning capacity.
N.C.G.S. § 97-44 says that when payments have lasted six weeks, the Industrial Commission may approve payment of liability in a lump sum. To be approved, a lump sum payment must be in the interest of the employee or their dependents.
Understanding Temporary Total Disability Payments
N.C.G.S. § 97-29 sets rates and duration of compensation when an employee can’t work at all. Temporary total disability payments are the injured person’s wage replacement. Benefits continue until the person returns to work, when they reach maximum medical improvement, or when they reach the maximum number of weeks of benefits. There are other reasons that temporary total disability payments may end, such as a contested claim or employee non-compliance.
What if the disability is partial? What is the workers’ compensation salary then?
When a person is only partially incapacitated because of a workplace injury, they receive 66 2/3% of the difference in their earnings compared to what they made before the injury. N.C.G.S. § 97-30 explains partial incapacity and disability payments.
What if I had a second job? How is my salary calculated then?
Generally, only the job that you were injured doing counts for a determination of your workers’ compensation salary in North Carolina. This rule may be different if you are in another state.
Can I get another job while getting NC workers’ compensation benefits?
If you get another job while receiving NC workers’ compensation disability pay, you must report it. The new income will be used to determine whether you continue to qualify for benefits. However, your medical benefits may continue, even if you start a new job.
Is there a waiting period for NC workers’ compensation medical benefits?
Even though there is a waiting period of seven days for wage compensation, there is no waiting period for medical benefits. You may receive medical benefits as soon as you are injured.
NC workers’ compensation salary and Social Security
When a person receives full Social Security retirement benefits at retirement age, the employer may reduce compensation by 100% of the retirement benefits. They may not reduce dependent or auxiliary benefits.
Attorney Consultation for Workers’ Compensation Salary
Are you wondering if workers’ compensation will pay your full salary in North Carolina? Do you need a lawyer to fight for your workers’ compensation benefits?