Wage Loss

Wage Loss

If someone is killed or injured because of the wrongful act of another, or is denied promotion or fired wrongfully, they may be entitled to recover wage loss as part of their damages. This includes the loss of past income that has been lost or reduced as well as future income that is reasonably certain to be lost or reduced in the future. This also includes loss of benefits such as vacation pay, sick pay, medical/dental insurance coverage (when a job is lost), retirement benefits and contributions. In wrongful death actions if the decedent was providing financial support to a family member or domestic partner, that individual can seek to recover loss of income that they would have expected to receive for the reasonable life expectancy of the decedent had they not been killed.

The value of ones time has an economic value even if they were not working. For example the efforts of a care-giving parent or child who is unable to provide support and care has a value called the loss of household services. The law recognizes that often someone else will have to be hired to provide this support and there is compensation available for those damages.

An injured party who is harmed by the wrongful act of another is entitled to be compensated for any time they miss from work. This is true even if their employer pays them for their time off using sick leave, vacation leave, or disability leave. A defendant does not reduce their obligation because you use your sick time or vacation time or your employer pays you for your time off. That would be a windfall for the defendant. Unless they are a government agency, or medical provider (in a medical negligence case) they can’t introduce this payment by a third party. (This is called the collateral course evidence rule.)