Wage Calculation - Additional Items of Value

Room and Board

When a furnished house or furnished apartment is part of an employee's compensation, check with the employer to find its value. Also check to see if other items such as utilities, fuel or food are provided. Farm laborers, for example, often receive these things. If items of value are continued by the employer through the temporary total disability period and reimbursement is not expected, do not add their value to the temporary total disability wage for the period received. Do include the value in the permanent partial disability or death benefit wage.

See s. DWD 80.29 and ch. DWD 272, Wis. Admin. Code, for current value of room and meals.

Tips

Check to find out what tips averaged per week. If part-time employee, divide total weekly tips by actual hours worked and multiply this hourly average by the hours used in expanded cash wage, i.e., 24 hours or normal full time and add to expanded cash wage. For cab drivers, just add 15% to gross wage to cover tips, if none are reported.

Vacation Pay

If the employer includes vacation pay in total earnings, such earnings are divided by the total calendar weeks worked in the last 52 weeks plus the weeks of paid vacation to obtain the actual average wage. If vacation pay is not included, divide the gross earnings just by the number of calendar weeks in which work was performed in the 52 week period prior to the injury.

Exclusions

Travel expense and fringe benefits such as meals for cost, insurance, retirement contributions, etc. are excluded. When fringe benefits are provided through "cafeteria" or "flexible" benefit plans, the employee's weekly wage is computed on the reduced taxable hourly rate.