AI-assisted research summary: This provision defines “wages” for Nebraska workers’ compensation and sets how weekly wages are calculated in different employment situations.
Wherever in the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act the term wages is used, it shall be construed to mean the money rate at which the service rendered is recompensed under the contract of hiring in force at the time of the accident. It shall not include gratuities received from the employer or others, nor shall it include board, lodging, or similar advantages received from the employer, unless the money value of such advantages shall have been fixed by the parties at the time of hiring, except that if the workers' compensation insurer shall have collected a premium based upon the value of such board, lodging, and similar advantages, then the value thereof shall become a part of the basis of determining compensation benefits. In occupations involving seasonal employment or employment dependent upon the weather, the employee's weekly wages shall be taken to be one-fiftieth of the total wages which he or she has earned from all occupations during the year immediately preceding the accident, unless it be shown that during such year, by reason of exceptional causes, such method of computation does not fairly represent the earnings of the employee. In such a case, the period for calculation shall be extended so far as to give a basis for the fair ascertainment of his or her average weekly earnings. In continuous employments, if immediately prior to the accident the rate of wages was fixed by the day or hour or by the output of the employee, his or her weekly wages shall be taken to be his or her average weekly income for the period of time ordinarily constituting his or her week's work, and using as the basis of calculation his or her earnings during as much of the preceding six months as he or she worked for the same employer, except as provided in sections 48-121 and 48-122. The calculation shall also be made with reference to the average earnings for a working day of ordinary length and exclusive of earnings from overtime, except that if the insurance company's policy of insurance provides for the collection of a premium based upon such overtime, then such overtime shall become a part of the basis of determining compensation benefits. History: Laws 1913, c. 198, § 26, p. 592; R.S.1913, § 3667; Laws 1917, c. 85, § 10, p. 208; C.S.1922, § 3049; Laws 1927, c. 39, § 2, p. 17; C.S.1929, § 48-126; Laws 1935, c. 57, § 39, p. 208; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 48-126; R.S.1943, § 48-126; Laws 1953, c. 163, § 1(1), p. 512; Laws 1957, c. 204, § 3, p. 721; Laws 1986, LB 811, § 45; Laws 2005, LB 238, § 5.