How Georgia Calculates Your Average Weekly Wage (AWW)

What Earnings Count Toward AWW?

Your AWW should include all forms of wages you earned from your job that provided an economic benefit to you. This goes beyond just your base pay. For example, the following are generally counted as “wages” when calculating AWW:

• Regular pay – your hourly wages or salary (gross pay before taxes)

• Overtime and extra shift pay – any additional earnings for working extra hours

• Bonuses, commissions, and tips – additional income you earned through your work performance

• Monetary benefits or allowances – for instance, a per diem allowance, the value of employer-provided meals or lodging, or other benefits that save you money

However, purely fringe benefits that don’t put money in your pocket (like an employer’s contributions to health insurance) are generally not counted in your AWW. In other words, if something from your job provided a direct monetary gain to you, it should be included in the wage calculation; if not, it’s excluded.

With that in mind, here are the three methods Georgia uses to calculate your AWW

Method 1: Average of Your Last 13 Weeks of Wages

This is the primary and preferred method for calculating AWW. If you have worked for about three months or more in the same kind of employment before your injury, your AWW is based on the average of your earnings during the 13 weeks immediately before the accident. Georgia law says that if you worked “substantially the whole of 13 weeks” before the injury, your AWW shall be one-thirteenth of the total amount of wages earned in such employment during the 13 weeks. In plain English, you add up all your gross earnings from the 13 weeks prior to your injury, then divide by 13 to get the average per week.

Example: Suppose you earned a total of $6,500 over the 13 weeks leading up to your injury (this total would include your regular pay plus any overtime, etc.). To find the AWW: $6,500 ÷ 13 = $500. In this example your average weekly wage would be $500. This $500/week figure is then used as the basis for your benefits. (For instance, temporary total disability benefits in Georgia are typically 2/3 of your AWW, so with a $500 AWW you’d usually receive about $333 per week, subject to state maximums.)

Note: “Substantially the whole of 13 weeks” means you worked most of that 13-week period. You don’t need to have worked every single day or week, but generally you were employed for the bulk of that timeframe. Minor gaps (like a brief vacation or a short illness) won’t usually disqualify using this method. However, if you only worked a portion of that period (for example, you were hired just a month before the injury), then you have not worked “substantially” 13 weeks and the next method would be used instead.

Method 2: Using a Similar Employee’s Wages

If you haven’t worked a full 13 weeks before your injury, Georgia law uses an alternate method to be fair. In this case, the AWW is calculated using the wages of a “similar employee in the same employment” who did work substantially the whole 13 weeks before your injury. In simpler terms, they look at a coworker with a similar job and use that person’s earnings to figure out your average weekly wage.

This situation often applies if you are a new employee or someone with only a few weeks on the job before getting hurt. The workers’ comp insurer or employer will find another employee who has a comparable role, works similar hours, and has similar pay rate. They will then calculate that employee’s average weekly wage over the last 13 weeks and use the same number for your AWW.

Example: Imagine you started working only 4 weeks before an injury, so Method 1 can’t fairly be used. Your job is as a delivery driver. The employer looks at another delivery driver in the company who has been there at least 13 weeks. Suppose that similar employee earned $7,800 in the 13 weeks before your accident. Dividing $7,800 by 13 gives $600. That $600/week would be applied as your average weekly wage as well (since the coworker’s experience is a proxy for what you would have earned over a full 13-week period).

Note: The “similar employee” is typically someone with the same or very similar job at the same employer. They should have worked full-time through the prior 13 weeks. If your company doesn’t have any comparable worker (for example, if your role was unique or the company is very small), or if using a similar employee’s wages wouldn’t be reasonable for some reason, then the law moves to the third method.

Method 3: Using Your Full-Time Weekly Wage

The third method is used if neither of the first two methods can be “reasonably and fairly” applied. In practice, this is a fallback for unusual situations – for example, if you were a brand new hire with no work history and there’s no similar employee to reference, or perhaps if your work was irregular and the other formulas don’t capture your earnings fairly. In this case, your AWW will be set to your full-time weekly wage.

How is the full-time weekly wage determined? It’s basically what you would earn in a typical full week at the job. Often this comes from your employment contract or pay rate. For instance, if you agreed to a rate of $20 per hour and a normal full-time schedule for that job is 40 hours per week, your full-time weekly wage would be $20 × 40 = $800. That $800 would be used as your AWW. If you were on a salaried job, it could be your weekly salary amount (e.g. if you earn $1,000 per week salary, that is your full-time weekly wage).

Example: You get injured during your first week on a job where the plan was for you to work full-time, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, at $15/hour. You have no 13-week history and suppose there are no similar employees (maybe you’re the only person in that role at the company). In this scenario, your AWW would be calculated as 40 hours × $15/hour = $600 per week, reflecting your full-time weekly earnings had you worked a full week.

Note: This method ensures you’re not penalized for having too short a work history. It essentially uses what you were expected to earn in a normal week. The Georgia Workers’ Compensation form for reporting wages (Form WC-6) even has a checkbox for “Full Time Weekly Wage of Injured Employee,” confirming this as the fallback when the 13-week methods don’t apply.

Final Thoughts: Checking Your AWW Calculation

Understanding these methods is important because your AWW directly affects your benefit checks. Most injured workers will have their AWW calculated using the 13-week average (Method 1), since many people have been on the job at least a few months. If you were newer to the job, expect the insurer to look for a comparable coworker’s wages (Method 2). Only in less common cases will the full-time wage (Method 3) be used – for example, if you’re too new and no similar role exists to compare.

It’s a good idea to double-check the AWW your employer or insurer comes up with. Make sure they included all your earnings (as noted, this can include overtime, bonuses, and other benefits of value) and that they used the correct method under the law. Georgia’s statute on AWW provides these methods to reach a fair average, so you receive the proper compensation. If something seems off – for instance, if you believe a higher-paying week was left out or the wrong comparison was used – you can ask questions or seek advice. Your AWW is the foundation for your workers’ comp benefits, so it’s crucial that it’s calculated accurately and in accordance with Georgia law.