New York Laws
Article 2 - Compensation
14 - Weekly Wages Basis of Compensation.

§ 14. Weekly wages basis of compensation. Except as otherwise provided
in this chapter, the average weekly wages of the injured employee at the
time of the injury shall be taken as the basis upon which to compute
compensation or death benefits, and shall be determined as follows:

1. If the injured employee shall have worked in the employment in
which he was working at the time of the accident, whether for the same
employer or not, during substantially the whole of the year immediately
preceding his injury, his average annual earnings shall consist of three
hundred times the average daily wage or salary for a six-day worker, and
two hundred sixty times the average daily wage or salary for a five-day
worker, which he shall have earned in such employment during the days
when so employed;

2. If the injured employee shall not have worked in such employment
during substantially the whole of such year, his average annual
earnings, if a six-day worker, shall consist of three hundred times the
average daily wage or salary, and, if a five-day worker, two hundred and
sixty times the average daily wage or salary, which an employee of the
same class working substantially the whole of such immediately preceding
year in the same or in a similar employment in the same or a neighboring
place shall have earned in such employment during the days when so
employed;

3. If either of the foregoing methods of arriving at the annual
average earnings of an injured employee cannot reasonably and fairly be
applied, such annual average earnings shall be such sum as, having
regard to the previous earnings of the injured employee and of other
employees of the same or most similar class, working in the same or most
similar employment, or other employment as defined in this chapter, in
the same or neighboring locality, shall reasonably represent the annual
earning capacity of the injured employee in the employment in which he
was working at the time of the accident, provided, however, his average
annual earnings shall consist of not less than two hundred times the
average daily wage or salary which he shall have earned in such
employment during the days when so employed, further provided, however,
that if the injured employee shall have been in the military or naval
service of the United States or of the state of New York within twelve
months prior to his injury, and his average annual earnings cannot be
fairly determined under subdivisions one and two, then the average
annual earnings shall be determined by multiplying his average daily
wage during the days so employed by not less than two hundred and forty;

4. The average weekly wages of an employee shall be one-fifty-second
part of his average annual earnings;

5. If it be established that the injured employee was under the age of
twenty-five when injured, and that under normal conditions his wages
would be expected to increase, that fact may be considered in arriving
at his average weekly wages.

6. If the injured employee is concurrently engaged in more than one
employment at the time of injury, the employee's average weekly wages
shall be calculated upon the basis of wages earned from all concurrent
employments covered under this chapter. The employer in whose employment
the employee was injured shall be liable for the benefits that would
have been payable if the employee had had no other employment. Any
additional benefits resulting from the increase in average weekly wages
due to the employee's concurrent employments shall be payable in the
first instance by the employer in whose employment the employee was
injured and shall be reimbursed by the special disability fund created
under subdivision eight of section fifteen of this article, but only if
such claim is presented in accordance with subparagraph two of paragraph
(h) of subdivision eight of section fifteen of this article. The

employer in whose employment the employee was injured shall be liable
for all medical costs.

7. The average weekly wages of a jockey, apprentice jockey or exercise
person licensed under article two or four of the racing, pari-mutuel
wagering and breeding law shall be computed based upon all of the
earnings of such jockey, apprentice jockey or exercise person, including
those derived from outside of the state.

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