Louisiana Workers’ Comp Weekly Benefit Calculator (2026)
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. I am not a lawyer. Consult a licensed workers’ comp attorney in Louisiana before making any decisions about your claim.
Quick Answer
In Louisiana, workers’ comp pays 66.67% of your average weekly wage (AWW), up to the current state maximum of $705 per week (75% of Louisiana’s State Average Weekly Wage, per La. R.S. 23:1202). Your AWW is calculated using your wages from the 26 weeks immediately before your injury date. There is no universal minimum — your benefit is purely a percentage of what you actually earned. If your AWW puts your benefit below what you can live on, you have zero buffer. That is the system. Here is how to make sure they’re at least calculating it correctly.
⚠️ Note: The $705 maximum is based on Louisiana’s most recently published State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) of approximately $940. The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) recalculates the SAWW annually. Verify the current maximum at laworks.net or with a licensed attorney before relying on any figure.
From Shane
I remember sitting at my kitchen table after my second injury in 2015, trying to figure out why my weekly check was $87 less than what I had calculated on a napkin. I assumed I was wrong. I’m a construction worker, not an accountant. So I cashed the check and moved on.
I was not wrong. They had excluded three weeks of heavy overtime from my AWW calculation — weeks I had worked leading up to a deadline push — by cherry-picking which 26-week window they used. That error cost me roughly $1,900 over the life of that claim.
Living on 66.67% of your income is brutal. Your mortgage doesn’t drop by a third. Your car payment doesn’t negotiate. The grocery store doesn’t care that you’re on indemnity benefits. Before you do anything else, build a bare-bones budget using your projected benefit number from the table below. Know exactly what gap you’re facing. Then scrutinize every line of how your employer calculated your AWW, because that is the number they most commonly get wrong — sometimes by accident, sometimes not.
The Exact Calculation Formula
Louisiana workers’ comp indemnity benefits for Temporary Total Disability (TTD) are governed by La. R.S. 23:1221(1) and La. R.S. 23:1021(12).
Step 1: Determine Your Average Weekly Wage (AWW)
Your AWW is the average of your actual gross wages earned in the 26 weeks immediately preceding the date of your accident. This is not your hourly rate multiplied by 40. It is your actual paycheck total — every dollar you earned.
What counts toward your AWW in Louisiana:
| Wage Component | Included in AWW? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Regular hourly wages | ✅ Yes | All hours worked |
| Overtime pay | ✅ Yes | Must be included — La. R.S. 23:1021(12) |
| Bonuses (performance-based) | ✅ Yes | If received as part of regular employment |
| Holiday pay | ✅ Yes | If paid as part of regular compensation |
| Second job wages | ✅ Yes | If the injury affects that job too |
| Tips | ✅ Yes | Reported tips are included |
| Sick pay / PTO used | ⚠️ Varies | Depends on whether it appears as wages on pay stubs |
| Employer contributions to benefits | ❌ No | Health insurance, 401k match not included |
| Severance | ❌ No | Post-employment payments excluded |
Step 2: Calculate Weekly Benefit
AWW = Total Gross Wages (26 weeks) ÷ 26
Weekly Benefit = AWW × 0.6667
Maximum Benefit = $705/week
Minimum Benefit = No statutory floor — calculated amount is your benefit
Step 3: Apply the Cap
If AWW × 0.6667 exceeds $705, your benefit is capped at $705. If it falls below, you receive exactly what the formula produces — even if that’s $40 a week.
Pre-Calculated Louisiana Workers’ Comp Benefit Table (2026)
Use your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) in the left column. The right column shows your weekly benefit before applying the cap.
| Average Weekly Wage (AWW) | Weekly Benefit (66.67%) | At or Below Cap? |
|---|---|---|
| $300 | $200.01 | ✅ Below cap |
| $400 | $266.68 | ✅ Below cap |
| $500 | $333.35 | ✅ Below cap |
| $600 | $400.02 | ✅ Below cap |
| $700 | $466.69 | ✅ Below cap |
| $800 | $533.36 | ✅ Below cap |
| $900 | $600.03 | ✅ Below cap |
| $1,000 | $666.70 | ✅ Below cap |
| $1,057 | $704.93 | ✅ At cap threshold |
| $1,058 | $705.40 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,100 | $733.37 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,200 | $800.04 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,300 | $866.71 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,400 | $933.38 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,500 | $1,000.05 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,600 | $1,066.72 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,700 | $1,133.39 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,800 | $1,200.06 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $1,900 | $1,266.73 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,000 | $1,333.40 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,100 | $1,400.07 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,200 | $1,466.74 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,300 | $1,533.41 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,400 | $1,600.08 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,500 | $1,666.75 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,600 | $1,733.42 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,700 | $1,800.09 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,800 | $1,866.76 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $2,900 | $1,933.43 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
| $3,000 | $2,000.10 | 🔴 Capped at $705 |
Key threshold: Any Louisiana worker earning more than approximately $1,058/week AWW receives the same $705 maximum benefit — regardless of whether they earned $1,100 or $3,000 per week. This is the most financially devastating feature of the cap for higher-earning workers.
What the Law Says vs. What Actually Happens
What the law says: Your employer (or their insurer) must calculate your AWW using all actual gross wages from the 26-week period before your injury, including overtime, per La. R.S. 23:1021(12).
What actually happens: Three common calculation errors I’ve seen and researched extensively:
1. They Use Your Base Hourly Rate Instead of Actual Wages
The insurer multiplies your hourly rate by 40 hours and calls it your AWW. This completely erases any overtime, differential pay, or irregular hours. It is wrong. It is common.
How to catch it: Pull your last 26 pay stubs. Add up every gross dollar. Divide by 26. That is your real AWW. Compare it to what the insurer used.
2. They Cherry-Pick the 26-Week Window
If you had a particularly high-earning period (say, a big overtime push in weeks 3–12 before your injury), an insurer might argue that period was “atypical” and try to substitute lower-wage periods. Louisiana law does allow adjustments for weeks not worked, but it does not allow wholesale substitution of high-earning periods.
3. They Exclude a Second Job
If your injury prevents you from working your second job, those wages should be included in your AWW under Louisiana law. Insurers frequently omit them because you have to proactively disclose the second employer — and most injured workers don’t know they’re entitled to it.
Real Case Example: Fluctuating Hours and Overtime
Worker: Marcus, offshore pipeline welder, Houma, Louisiana
Injury date: September 10, 2025
Hourly rate: $28/hour
Schedule: Rotational — 2 weeks on (84 hrs/week), 2 weeks off
26-week wage calculation (actual pay stubs):
| Weeks | Hours Worked | Gross Pay |
|---|---|---|
| 13 active rotation weeks | 84 hrs × 13 | $30,576 |
| 13 off-rotation weeks | 0 | $0 |
| Total 26-week wages | $30,576 |
AWW: $30,576 ÷ 26 = $1,176.00
Benefit (66.67%): $1,176 × 0.6667 = $784.04
After cap: $705.00/week (capped)
What the insurer initially calculated: $28/hour × 40 hours = $1,120 AWW × 0.6667 = $746.70, then capped at $705. In this case, the cap absorbed the error — but if Marcus earned $900/week AWW legitimately, the base-rate method would have underpaid him by roughly $53/week or over $2,700 in a year-long claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does Louisiana workers’ comp include overtime in the AWW calculation?
A: Yes. Absolutely and unambiguously. Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1021(12) defines wages broadly to include all remuneration for employment, which courts have consistently interpreted to include overtime compensation. This is one of the most commonly exploited miscalculations in the state. An insurer calculating your AWW based on straight-time wages only — even if they claim overtime is “irregular” — is almost certainly underpaying you. The law doesn’t say “regular wages.” It says wages. Pull every pay stub from the 26 weeks before your injury, add up every line of gross pay including overtime, divide by 26, and compare that number to what’s on your first indemnity check. If they don’t match, you have a problem worth addressing immediately. An attorney can file for a penalty — Louisiana assesses a 12% penalty on unpaid benefits plus attorney fees under La. R.S. 23:1201(F) if the underpayment is found to be arbitrary and capricious. That penalty provision exists precisely because wage miscalculation is so endemic to the system.
Q: What if I worked fewer than 26 weeks for this employer before my injury?
A: Louisiana law addresses this directly. If you worked fewer than 26 weeks, the insurer is supposed to calculate your AWW based on the wages of a “similar employee” doing comparable work for a full 26-week period — not simply prorate your short tenure. This provision is found in La. R.S. 23:1021(12)(b). In practice, insurers frequently default to prorating your actual earnings, which often underrepresents your true earning capacity, especially for workers who just received a raise or promotion. If you’re a newer employee, request documentation of what comparable employees earned during that period, or have an attorney subpoena those records. The “similar employee” standard is your legal right, and it matters most for workers who were ramping up hours or recently hired at a higher rate than their short tenure reflects.
Q: I have a second job. Are those wages included in my Louisiana workers’ comp AWW?
A: Yes — but only under specific conditions. If your work injury also prevents you from performing your second job (due to physical restrictions, the same body part being affected, or doctor’s orders prohibiting that type of work), then wages from that second job must be included in your AWW calculation. You must proactively disclose the second employer to the insurer and provide pay documentation. Many workers never mention the second job because they assume it doesn’t count — or because they worry about complicating their claim. That silence costs them real money. Document your second-job wages the same way you would your primary wages: 26 weeks of pay stubs, totaled and averaged. If the insurer refuses to include them, that’s a dispute worth taking to the Louisiana Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) through a disputed claim for compensation (Form LWC-WC-1008).
Q: Can my Louisiana workers’ comp benefit go up if the state maximum changes after my injury?
A: Generally, no. Your benefit rate is locked at the maximum in effect on your date of injury, not the date benefits are paid. If the SAWW increases in a subsequent year and the new maximum rises above $705, workers injured before that effective date do not automatically receive the higher cap. This is a critical distinction for workers with long-term or permanent disability claims — the maximum you’re entitled to is a historical snapshot. The flip side is also true: if the maximum decreases (which is extremely rare), your established benefit is also protected. Always confirm the exact maximum in effect on your specific injury date by cross-referencing the Louisiana Workforce Commission’s historical SAWW publications at laworks.net.
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