M
medic22
Guest
In Hawaii...
§386-31 Total disability.
(b) Temporary total disability. Where a work injury causes total disability not determined to be permanent in character, the employer, for the duration of the disability, but not including the first three calendar days thereof, shall pay the injured employee a weekly benefit at the rate of sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the employee's average weekly wages, subject to the limitations on weekly benefit rates prescribed in subsection (a)[$529 SSAW].
I missed my only 2 days of work in a week, which happens to total 48 hours, and has a dollar value of $966.
The disagreement taking us to trial revolves around the DLIR policy of dividing the weekly benefit [$529] by seven and then paying an injured employee 1/7 for each 'day' missed. I rec'v'd $151.
They use a definition which appears in their Administrative Rules, which simply says that a 'week' or 'workweek' is any seven consecutive days which are recurring.
From that definition, alone, the infer (a) the need for fractionating the benefit to fit a partial week's benefit, and (b) the formula for computing the partial benefit.
Obviously, this doesn't work for me since my entire week's wages are derived from 2 days work!
So, I offered another definition from a closely related statute:
§HRS392 Temporary Disability Insurance
§392-3 Definitions generally.
"Weekly benefit amount" means the amount payable under this chapter for a period of continuous disability throughout a calendar week. If the period of disability or the initial or terminal portion thereof is shorter than a calendar week, the benefit amount payable for that portion shall be the weekly benefit amount multiplied by a factor consisting of a quotient having the number of workdays lost during the portion of the week for the enumerator and the number of regular workdays of the employee during a calendar week for the denominator.
Now, this formula, authored and enacted by my elected representatives, fits my situation and really, any worker who has 'workdays'.
I would like your advice as to how I best put forth this argument: A pertinent and applicable statute-based formula, even though it exists in another (similar) statute, HAS MORE MERIT than a simple definition of two words that don't appear in the statute that must be construed to create a formula.
Is there a legal term for opting for a clearly written statutory reference rather than a feebly construed excerpt from Administrative Rules? Who writes Administrative Rules and are they the equal of state statute?
Thanks to any and all who are willing to weigh in. Aloha, Tim W.
§386-31 Total disability.
(b) Temporary total disability. Where a work injury causes total disability not determined to be permanent in character, the employer, for the duration of the disability, but not including the first three calendar days thereof, shall pay the injured employee a weekly benefit at the rate of sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the employee's average weekly wages, subject to the limitations on weekly benefit rates prescribed in subsection (a)[$529 SSAW].
I missed my only 2 days of work in a week, which happens to total 48 hours, and has a dollar value of $966.
The disagreement taking us to trial revolves around the DLIR policy of dividing the weekly benefit [$529] by seven and then paying an injured employee 1/7 for each 'day' missed. I rec'v'd $151.
They use a definition which appears in their Administrative Rules, which simply says that a 'week' or 'workweek' is any seven consecutive days which are recurring.
From that definition, alone, the infer (a) the need for fractionating the benefit to fit a partial week's benefit, and (b) the formula for computing the partial benefit.
Obviously, this doesn't work for me since my entire week's wages are derived from 2 days work!
So, I offered another definition from a closely related statute:
§HRS392 Temporary Disability Insurance
§392-3 Definitions generally.
"Weekly benefit amount" means the amount payable under this chapter for a period of continuous disability throughout a calendar week. If the period of disability or the initial or terminal portion thereof is shorter than a calendar week, the benefit amount payable for that portion shall be the weekly benefit amount multiplied by a factor consisting of a quotient having the number of workdays lost during the portion of the week for the enumerator and the number of regular workdays of the employee during a calendar week for the denominator.
Now, this formula, authored and enacted by my elected representatives, fits my situation and really, any worker who has 'workdays'.
I would like your advice as to how I best put forth this argument: A pertinent and applicable statute-based formula, even though it exists in another (similar) statute, HAS MORE MERIT than a simple definition of two words that don't appear in the statute that must be construed to create a formula.
Is there a legal term for opting for a clearly written statutory reference rather than a feebly construed excerpt from Administrative Rules? Who writes Administrative Rules and are they the equal of state statute?
Thanks to any and all who are willing to weigh in. Aloha, Tim W.