Detailed Answer — What “lost wages” means and how Arizona law treats them

Lost wages are the money you would have earned but did not because an injury kept you from working. Under Arizona law, a personal-injury claimant can seek compensation for both past lost earnings and future lost earning capacity as part of a damages claim. How much you can recover depends on the evidence you provide about your pay, the time you missed, and whether your injury permanently affects your ability to earn.

In Arizona, different laws may apply depending on facts (e.g., a car crash, a slip and fall, or a workers’ compensation claim). For general civil personal-injury claims, see Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 12 (Civil Procedure and Remedies): https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=12. For workplace injuries and wage-replacement benefits, see Title 23 (Employment and Workers’ Compensation): https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=23.

Key categories of lost-wage damages

• Past lost wages: pay you already lost between the injury date and the date of claim or settlement.
• Future lost earnings (lost earning capacity): projected earnings you likely will lose because of lingering or permanent effects.
• Benefits and fringe pay: contributions such as health insurance, retirement contributions, commissions, and predictable bonuses that you lost because you missed work.

Important legal considerations

• Mitigation: You have a duty to reasonably reduce losses. That means attending treatment and returning to work when your doctor says you can.
• Comparative fault and offsets: Arizona law can reduce a recovery if you share fault for the injury. The final award may be adjusted to reflect your percentage of responsibility.
• Time limits: Personal-injury claims generally need to be filed within the state’s statute of limitations for tort claims. See Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 12 for timing rules: https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=12.

Step-by-step: How to calculate lost wages for a minor neck and back injury (ER visit + PT appointments)

Below are steps you can follow, with simple examples using typical facts for a minor neck and back injury that required an emergency room visit and a few physical therapy (PT) appointments.

1) Gather documentation

Evidence is everything. Collect:

• Pay stubs for several pay periods before the injury (to show regular earnings and overtime patterns).
• A letter or form from your employer confirming time missed and whether you used paid time off (PTO) or unpaid leave.
• Time cards or electronic time records showing missed hours.
• Tax records (W-2s, 1099s) if you are salaried, commissioned, or self-employed.
• Invoices, profit-and-loss statements, bank deposits, and client calendars if you are self-employed or a contractor.
• Medical records showing appointment dates, treatment duration, and physician statements that those appointments required you to miss work.

2) Determine the correct pay basis

Match the calculation to how you are paid:

• Hourly: Use your regular hourly rate. Include overtime rate for hours you would have worked and historically averaged overtime on paystubs.
• Salaried: Convert salary into daily or hourly equivalents: (annual salary ÷ number of pay periods ÷ hours per pay period) or (annual salary ÷ 52 ÷ average hours per week).
• Commissioned/Bonus-based: Calculate typical commission/bonus amounts using historical averages for the period you missed.
• Self-employed: Use net earnings (income after ordinary and necessary business expenses) as shown on tax returns and accounting records.

3) Calculate past lost wages — simple formulas and examples

Example A — Hourly worker

Facts: Regular pay $18/hour. You missed 8 hours for an ER visit (including travel and recovery) and 6 PT appointments of 2 hours each (including travel), so total missed hours = 8 + (6 × 2) = 20 hours.

Calculation: 20 hours × $18/hour = $360 in past lost wages.

Example B — Salaried employee

Facts: Annual salary $52,000. You missed 3 full workdays for ER and PT over a two-week period.

Calculation: Daily pay = $52,000 ÷ 260 workdays ≈ $200/day. Lost wages = 3 days × $200 = $600.

Example C — Self-employed contractor

Facts: You invoice clients and normally bill 30 hours/week at $50/hour but lost 12 billable hours that cannot be made up.

Calculation: 12 hours × $50 = $600. Also document any lost projects or canceled contracts as additional lost revenue.

4) Include fringe benefits and overtime

If you would have earned overtime, commissions, bonuses, or employer contributions (401(k) match, paid leave not used), include a reasonable calculation supported by pay records. For example, if you typically work overtime every other week, use the average overtime earned during a representative period before the injury.

5) Calculate future lost earning capacity (if applicable)

If the injury causes continued pain that reduces your ability to earn, a future-loss calculation often requires a vocational or economic expert. You will estimate lost annual earnings and then discount them to present value. For minor injuries that fully resolve with PT, future losses are often zero, but you must support that conclusion with medical records.

6) Keep clear contemporaneous records

Keep a dated log of missed work, time spent in appointments, travel time, and reduced productivity. Employer emails or official time-off requests that confirm missed hours are especially useful.

How insurers and courts evaluate your calculation

• Insurers look for verified documentation tying missed time to medical care. Vague statements often reduce offers.
• Adjustments: Insurers may adjust amounts if you used PTO (they may argue you were not economically harmed) or if medical notes do not support the amount of time missed.
• Taxation: Lost wages awards are typically intended to replace gross wages; taxation depends on the type of award and tax law. Consult a tax professional before assuming the tax consequences.

When to hire an attorney

For small, clear losses supported by documentation you can often present a claim yourself. Consider consulting an attorney if:

• The insurer denies responsibility or offers far less than your documented losses.
• Future lost earning capacity or permanent impairment is likely.
• Your claim involves complex issues (comparative fault, multiple defendants, disputed medical causation).

Even if you do not hire an attorney immediately, many personal-injury attorneys offer free consultations and can advise whether your case is worth pursuing.

Helpful Hints

• Start documenting the day of the injury: note times, missed shifts, and appointment durations.
• Ask your employer for a written confirmation of missed hours and pay status (PTO used, unpaid leave, etc.).
• Collect at least 4–8 weeks of pay stubs before the injury to show typical earnings and overtime patterns.
• For salaried employees, convert salary to daily or hourly pay the same way your payroll does.
• If self-employed, keep copies of invoices, client cancellations, bank deposits, and profit/loss statements to prove lost revenue.
• Keep appointment cards, intake forms, and discharge summaries from ER and PT visits to link missed time to medical care.
• Don’t exaggerate missed time. Inaccurate claims harm credibility and weaken recovery.
• Preserve emails or texts where your employer acknowledges that treatment required time off.
• Ask your treating provider to state whether appointments or recovery required you to miss work and how much time was necessary.
• Act promptly: explore settlement before the statute of limitations runs out. See Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 12: https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=12.