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If you know how much you were making before your work injury, how can you find how much you should be paid each week (also known as your workers' compensation rate)?

A: If you know what your average weekly wage (commonly referred to as your AWW) is, the number of dependents that you are allowed to claim (hint: generally, it is the number of exemptions you claim on your tax return for the year before you were injured) and your marital status then you can look-up what your rate should be at http://www.iowaworkforce.org/wc/publications.htm.  Your average weekly wage is determined in different ways depending on how you were paid before the work injury.  If you were paid by the hour, then generally your workers' compensation average weekly wage is determined by looking at how much you made during the 13 weeks before you were hurt.  While overtime hours are included, they are only included at your normal hourly wage.  Also, keep in mind that weeks which are not "customary", meaning weeks in which you missed work because of sickness, vacation, etc. are to be skipped in your Iowa work injury average weekly wage calculation. 

Once you know your average weekly wage you will need to click on the correct Workers' Compensation Manual depending on when you were injured.  If you sustained a work injury between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, then use the 2007 manual.  If you were hurt at work between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009 then use the 2008 Manual.  If your injury at work happened after July 1, 2009, then use the 2009 manual.  Keep in mind that these only apply to Iowa work comp. claims.  You will need to look-up your average weekly wage on the left hand side and then go across to determine the rate based upon your marital status and total number of exemptions.