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Concurrent Employment

Many people work more than one job.  Concurrent employment is a workers’ compensation term that describes someone working more than one job.

Concurrent employment can affect your workers’ compensation benefits.  Your average weekly wage determines how much you receive in weekly workers’ compensation benefits after a work injury in Georgia.

It is important that your average weekly wage is calculated correctly because it affects the amounts of three separate types of workers’ compensation benefits:

An incorrect average weekly wage can result in you receiving less that you should from the insurance company.

Construction work with valve e1469899557472What if I work more than one job?

Usually only the wages of the job where you were injured are used to calculate your average weekly wage.  However, some people work two or more jobs.  Workers’ compensation calls this concurrent employment.

If you have more than one job, you can sometimes include the wages of other jobs in calculating your average weekly wage.  You get to count the wages of other concurrent jobs if the jobs are “similar” to the job where you were injured.

Concurrent does not have to mean that you were doing the jobs at exactly the same time.  In March 2015, the Georgia Court of Appeals decided the case of Thomas v. Fulton County Board of Education.

The Court of Appeals determined that Ms. Thomas’ employment for two employers as a bus driver was concurrent.  They reached this conclusion even though she worked for the school during 9 months of the year and worked for another employer over the summer.

What jobs are similar?Temporary worker in factory running machine

It is difficult to provide a clear rule about what jobs are “similar”. Some situations are pretty clear.

The jobs in the Court of Appeals case mentioned above were similar.  Ms. Thomas drove a bus for the school system.  She also drove a bus for another employer.  Because the jobs were concurrent and similar, the money that Ms. Thomas earned from both employers in the three months before her injury was used to calculate her average weekly wage.

The jobs do not have to be exactly the same to be similar.  The specific facts of your case matter a lot. Your jobs might be “similar” if you work in the same type of industry in both jobs (retail sales, food service, security, construction, etc).  A court might consider other factors as well.

If the insurance company agrees that your jobs are similar, then they should include them when they calculate your average weekly wage.  They should send you a Form WC-6 showing they wages they are using.

If the insurance company does not agree that your jobs are similar, you will probably have to get an attorney involved to get all your earnings included in your average weekly wage.

Questions about concurrent employment

“Concurrent employment” is a very confusing concept.  Even if your jobs are “dissimilar”, there are some really strange rules about how “concurrent employment” affects your workers’ compensation benefits.

 

What if I have other questions about workers compensation?

Georgia’s workers compensation system can be very confusing.  You have to worry about getting the treatment you need and paying your bills while also worrying about not missing any deadlines that could cause you to lose your right to receive workers compensation benefits.

If you have questions, I would recommend that you try to get answers.  To find out more about how to schedule a time to talk to me about your workers compensation questions, just read this short article.

Jason Perkins is an attorney who specializes in representing injured workers.  He regularly publishes videos and write blog articles about Georgia’s workers compensation system and issues that are important to injured workers and their families.

To be notified of Jason’s new workers compensation videos, subscribe to his Georgia Workers Compensation Video Series channel on YouTube by clicking the subscribe button below.

Brittney-lee orourkeBrittney-lee orourke
05:23 18 Feb 22
Amazing! Jason and his team were very helpful and had the best communication by far. Walked me though every step with great detail and had answers for any question I had. They handled my case better then I could imagine, it was a weird case and they stayed on top of it and kept me updated every step of the way! Highly recommend this Team! Thanks so much to Jason and his Awesome team!-Brittney
China JonesChina Jones
18:58 08 Feb 22
I absolutely love this group of attorneys, when I was at my lowest they did everything they could to help me get justice for my injury. I believe if I were to have never picked my phone up and called the amazing group that helped me I definitely would not have received my idea of rights. If you have an issue and are just not sure please understand that they will help you, stay in contact, answer any question you have, and for sure get you the justice you deserve I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I will definitely refer them to anyone who has been hurt because they most definitely care about their work and clients.
Luv LocsLuv Locs
16:08 15 Jan 22
The entire law office was attentive and responsive to all of my concerns dealing with my workers compensation case.
moombimoombi
21:14 02 Jan 22
If you must get a lawyer involved, you’d do well to work with Jason Perkins and his team at Perkins Studdard Law.They were thorough in gathering information and in sharing all the steps in the workers comp process specific to my case. Jason and the team were responsive to my bevy of questions and concerns.I appreciated the informative videos and consultations provided by Jason over video meetings and multiple phone calls.I hope I’m never injured on the job again. However, if I am and if my employer responds as my previous employer did, I’ll contact Perkins Studdard Law immediately to handle the case.
Dana BessDana Bess
23:57 10 Dec 21
Everyone at Perkins Studdard was kind and professional. They were always extremely responsive and answered all questions that I had and followed up to make sure I had an understanding of what was going on along with emailing videos to explain every step of my case so I would know what to expect and be prepared. Jason is a very genuine person and I trusted him with my case. He answered so many questions for me even before I retained him as my WC lawyer. I highly recommend him and his associates at Perkins Studdard.
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