| (a) This rule applies only to school district employees injured
on or after December 1, 2001. The calculations in this rule apply to the portion
of the employee's average weekly wage (AWW) based upon the employee's employment
with the school district where the school district is the "Claim Employer"
as that term is used in §122.5 of this title (relating to Employee's
Multiple Employment Wage Statement). The AWW of a school district employee
injured before December 1, 2001, is computed using the law and commission
rules in effect on the date of the injury.
(b) For determining the amount of temporary income benefits
of school district employees under Texas Labor Code Chapter 504, the AWW is
computed on the basis of wages earned in a week. "Wages earned in a week"
are equal to the amount that would be deducted from an employee's salary if
the employee were absent from work for one week and the employee did not have
personal leave available to compensate the employee for lost wages for that
week. For this calculation "wages" includes only pecuniary wages.
(c) For determining the amount of temporary income benefits
of a school district employee, the AWW shall be computed as follows.
(1) For a school district employee working under a written
contract with the school district, the AWW shall be computed by dividing the
amount the employee would have been paid had the employee fully completed
the terms of the contract (including any stipend the employee was earning
or scheduled to receive under the contract) by:
(A) the number of days that the employee was required to work
under that contract and multiplied by five (if the contract has specified
the number of work days); or
(B) the number of months that the contract was to cover and
then dividing the result by 4.34821.
(2) For a school district employee who is employed on a non-written
contract basis (i.e. hourly, daily, salaried, or other basis), the AWW shall
be computed by dividing the total gross wages earned in the previous 13-week
period immediately preceding the date of injury by 13.
(d) The AWW for computing temporary income benefits may be
increased or decreased to more accurately reflect wages the school district
employee reasonably could expect to earn during the period for which temporary
income benefits are paid.
(1) An insurance carrier (carrier) may adjust the AWW based
on evidence of earnings.
(2) A school district employee may request adjustments by submitting
evidence of earnings to the carrier.
(3) For a period a school district employee would not have
earned wages, the AWW may be adjusted to zero and no minimum benefit payment
may be required.
(e) For determining the amount of impairment income benefits,
lifetime income benefits, supplemental income benefits, or death benefits,
the AWW shall be computed in accordance with this subsection using only pecuniary
wages.
(1) The carrier shall add together the total wages earned by
the school district employee during the 12 months immediately preceding the
injury and dividing the result by 50 weeks.
(2) If the school district employee provides wage information
from other employers for whom the employee worked in the 12 months immediately
preceding the injury, these wages shall be included in the calculation of
the AWW. Note that for injuries on or after July 1, 2002, the effect of wages
from a Non-Claim Employer (as the term is defined in §122.5 of this title
(relating to Employee's Multiple Employment Wage Statement)) on the employee's
AWW is governed by §128.1(h)(2) of this title (relating to Average Weekly
Wage: General Provisions).
(f) In the event the school district employee and/or carrier
believes that the AWW computed based on the calculations in this rule does
not reflect the true AWW, the employee and carrier may enter into a written
agreement regarding the AWW or request a benefit review conference.
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