If a negligent party injures you, you can recover damages to compensate you for your expenses and anguish. These damages can cover pain and suffering, property damage, and medical expenses. They can also cover lost wages.
Calculating your lost wages is not as easy as it may at first seem. There are a lot of different factors involved. In such a case, it is absolutely vital that you contact a professional to take you through the process. An experienced attorney will know how to determine what wages you have lost and will lose in the future. There are a number of factors that he or she will take into account.
- Promotions
- Raises
- Fringe benefits
- Bonuses
- Pension benefits
All of these are benefits you are missing out on due to the accident, not just your base salary.
If you are forced to take a lower-paying job after you recover from your accident, either because your old job is no longer available or you can no longer perform it, there are even more factors to consider:
- Difference in pay
- Time to find the new job. If you are unemployed for a time until you find a new job, you can recover the wages you would have earned.
- Length of time at the new job. If you can never return to work because of the trauma you suffered, yet more factors will go into the loss of future income calculation.
- Your age. The longer before your retirement age, the more you are generally entitled to be reimbursed.
- Physical impairments
- Employment history. If you can never work again, you must construct a plausible employment future that you are now missing out on.
- Educational background. With more education, you have more earning possibilities that are now lost.
- Earnings history and lifestyle. Your earnings history will help construct your hypothetical employment trajectory.
The calculation is in-depth. An experienced attorney can help you through it so you do not miss out on any part of the compensation which you deserve. The statute of limitations in Oregon is two years for most tort claim (though there are several exceptions which may shorten that time), so don’t wait to contact a professional.
