Calculating Faculty Average Weekly Wage

A decision of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals provides guidance for calculating faculty average weekly wage. The ruling was filed August 18, 1992.

Calculate the average weekly wage for faculty members by taking the total earnings under the employee's contract(s), including summer sessions and overload, and dividing those earnings by the actual weeks that the employee is under an obligation to perform services for the employer.

In the case that was before the court, the IFO member had a faculty contract agreement to receive a sum of money to work on scheduled duty days for the school year. She opted to collect her wages over 12 months rather than over the period of the school year. The court ruled that her total wages should have been divided by the 37.8 weeks that she was under contract rather than by 52 weeks for the whole year that she was paid. If an employee works a very irregular or nonrecurring schedule, you will still need to compute that employee's average weekly wage by completing the 26 week wage information form.

If you have any questions, please contact Mary Muenchow in MnSCU Personnel.