Wages: Concurrent Employment

MONTANA SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Sturchio v. Wausau, 2007 MT 311 The only interpretation of § 39-71-123, MCA, which furthers the legislative policy of § 39-71-105(1), MCA, (that wage-loss benefits “bear a reasonable relationship to actual wages lost”) is to interpret § 39-71-123(3), MCA, as applying to each concurrent employment and then using the resulting figures to calculate the employee’s aggregate average actual wage.

Sturchio v. Wausau, 2007 MT 311 While only one of the methods described in § 39-71-123(3), MCA, can apply to individual employments, a reasonable reading supports applying the calculation methods of § 39-71-123(3), MCA, to each individual employment comprising concurrent employments in the same manner they apply to single, individual employments.

Dunnington v. State Fund [12/26/00] 2000 MT 349 Under the statutory definition of "concurrent employment" set out in section 39-71-123(4), MCA (1995), injured worker did not have concurrent employment with construction company where he was not "actually employed" by that company. Although claimant had performed seasonal work for the construction company previously, further employment in the next construction season was not guaranteed.

MONTANA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COURT DECISIONS

Sturchio v. Liberty [01/30/07] 2007 MTWCC 4 Where a claimant has multiple concurrent employments, each employment is to be considered individually and the average weekly wage of each employment is to be calculated by whatever method found in § 39-71-123, MCA, best suits the facts of that particular employment.

Dunnington v. State Fund [11/5/98] 1998 MTWCC 80 Claimant did not prove he had "concurrent employment" within section 39-71-123(4), MCA (1995) requiring the aggregation of wages. Although the second company had close ties to the first, claimant's employment with the second company had terminated prior to his hire by the company where he was injured. Aggregation of wages is authorized under the statute only where a claimant is actually employed by another entity at the time of the injury.

Lugo v. Mont. Hosp. Assoc., Workers' Compensation Trust [11/01/95] 1995 MTWCC 86 Unemployment benefits received by part-time worker are not included in his average weekly wage where section 39-71-123, MCA (1993) defines wages as gross remuneration "for services rendered by an employee."