{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-342.140","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 342.140","heading":"Computation of employee's average weekly wage.","body":"The average weekly wage of the injured employee at the time of the injury or last\ninjurious exposure shall be determined as follows:\n(1) If at the time of the injury which resulted in death or disability or the last date of\ninjurious exposure preceding death or disability from an occupational disease:\n(a) The wages were fixed by the week, the amount so fixed shall be the average\nweekly wage;\n(b) The wages were fixed by the month, the average weekly wage shall be the\nmonthly wage so fixed multiplied by twelv e (12) and divided by fifty -two\n(52);\n(c) The wages were fixed by the year, the average weekly wage shall be the\nyearly wage so fixed divided by fifty-two (52);\n(d) The wages were fixed by the day, hour, or by the output of the employee, the\naverage weekly  wage shall be the wage most favorable to the employee\ncomputed by dividing by thirteen (13) the wages (not including overtime or\npremium pay) of said employee earned in the employ of the employer in the\nfirst, second, third, or fourth period of thirteen ( 13) consecutive calendar\nweeks in the fifty-two (52) weeks immediately preceding the injury;\n(e) The wages were determined by the day, hour, or by the output of the\nemployee, and the employee received unemployment benefits pursuant to\nKRS Chapter 341 durin g the first, second, third, or fourth period of thirteen\n(13) consecutive calendar weeks in the fifty -two (52) weeks immediately\npreceding the injury, the unemployment benefits received shall be added to\nthe wages earned during the thirteen (13) week perio d and divided by thirteen\n(13), the average weekly wage shall be the result most favorable to the\nemployee;\n(f) The employee had been in the employ of the employer less than thirteen (13)\ncalendar weeks immediately preceding the injury, his or her average weekly\nwage shall be computed under paragraph (d), taking the wages (not including\novertime or premium pay) for that purpose to be the amount he or she would\nhave earned had he or she been so employed by the employer the full thirteen\n(13) calendar weeks i mmediately preceding the injury and had worked, when\nwork was available to other employees in a similar occupation; and\n(g) The hourly wage has not been fixed or cannot be ascertained, the wage for the\npurpose of calculating compensation shall be taken to be the usual wage for\nsimilar services where the services are rendered by paid employees.\n(2) In occupations which are exclusively seasonal and ther efore cannot be carried on\nthroughout the year, the average weekly wage shall be taken to be one -fiftieth\n(1/50) of the total wages which the employee has earned from all occupations\nduring the twelve (12) calendar months immediately preceding the injury.\n(3) In the case of volunteer firemen, police, and emergency management agency\nmembers or trainees, the income benefits shall be based on the average weekly\nwage in their regular employment.\n(4) If the employee was a minor, apprentice, or trainee when injur ed, and it is\nestablished that under normal conditions his or her wages should be expected to\nincrease during the period of disability, that fact may be considered in computing\nhis or her average weekly wage.\n(5) When the employee is working under concurre nt contracts with two (2) or more\nemployers and the defendant employer has knowledge of the employment prior to\nthe injury, his or her wages from all the employers shall be considered as if earned\nfrom the employer liable for compensation.\n(6) The term \"wa ges\" as used in this section and KRS 342.143 means, in addition to\nmoney payments for services rendered, the reasonable value of board, rent, housing,\nlodging, and fuel or similar advantage received from the employer, and gratuities\nreceived in the course of employment from others than the employer to the extent\nthe gratuities are reported for income tax purposes.\n(7) The commissioner shall, from time to time, based upon the best available\ninformation, determine by administrative regulation industries which  ordinarily do\nnot have a full working day for five (5) days in every week. In those industries,\ncompensation shall be computed at the average weekly wage earned by the\nemployee at the time of injury reckoning wages as earned while working full time.\n\"At f ull time\" as used in this subsection means a full working day for five (5)\nworking days in every week regardless of whether the injured employee actually\nworked all or part of the time.","path":["KRS Chapter 342"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54810","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:31Z","sha256":"08edbc8456ba46c0f013b50ba34749fe5355c80f116f578c88f4d51edfb16711","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-342.135","next":"us-ky/krs-342.143"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}