The average weekly wage for Oregon workers disabled on the job during fiscal year (FY) 1997 was $445.12. The average weekly wage for all workers (excluding federal) was $526.37; a difference of $81.25. Table 1 documents the decline in wages of injured workers relative to those of all Oregon workers. For more information on this subject, the publication Differences in Average Weekly Wages is available upon request. Injured workers who are disabled for more than three calendar days receive time loss benefits equal to two-thirds of their weekly wage at time of injury, up to the maximum benefit limitation. For injuries occurring in FY 1997, the benefit limitation was $518.60. The maximum benefit changes each July 1, with the time loss maximum set to the average weekly wage of all Oregon employees during the fourth quarter of the preceding calendar year. During FY 1997, 2,307 injured workers (9.1 percent of the total) had weekly wages above $777.90, which is the wage at which claimants received the maximum benefit. Were there no benefit limitation, these higher-wage workers would have received time loss in excess of $518.60. However, any adverse effects of the benefit structure depend upon the extent to which tax-free workers compensation benefits replace after-tax earnings or purchasing power. Figure 1 shows the distribution of both wages and claims at $100 intervals for FY 1997.
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