39-71-123. Wages defined. (1) "Wages" means the gross remuneration paid in money, or in a substitute for money, for services rendered by an employee, or income provided for in subsection (1)(d). Wages include but are not limited to:
     (a) commissions, bonuses, and remuneration at the regular hourly rate for overtime work, holidays, vacations, and sickness periods;
     (b) board, lodging, rent, or housing if it constitutes a part of the employee's remuneration and is based on its actual value;
     (c) payments made to an employee on any basis other than time worked, including but not limited to piecework, an incentive plan, or profit-sharing arrangement; and
     (d) income or payment in the form of a draw, wage, net profit, or substitute for money received or taken by a sole proprietor or partner, regardless of whether the sole proprietor or partner has performed work or provided services for that remuneration.
     (2) Wages do not include:
     (a) employee expense reimbursements or allowances for meals, lodging, travel, subsistence, and other expenses, as set forth in department rules;
     (b) special rewards for individual invention or discovery;
     (c) tips and other gratuities received by the employee in excess of those documented to the employer for tax purposes;
     (d) contributions made by the employer to a group insurance or pension plan; or
     (e) vacation or sick leave benefits accrued but not paid.
     (3) (a) Except as provided in subsection (3)(b), for compensation benefit purposes, the average actual earnings for the four pay periods immediately preceding the injury are the employee's wages, except that if
      the term of employment for the same employer is less than four pay periods, the employee's wages are the hourly rate times the number of hours in a week for which the employee was hired to work.
     (b) For good cause shown, if the use of the last four pay periods does not accurately reflect the claimant's employment history with the employer, the wage may be calculated by dividing the total earnings for an additional period of time, not to exceed 1 year prior to the date of injury, by the number of weeks in that period, including periods of idleness or seasonal fluctuations.
     (4) (a) For the purpose of calculating compensation benefits for an employee working concurrent employments, the average actual wages must be calculated as provided in subsection (3). As used in this subsection, "concurrent employment" means employment in which the employee was actually employed at the time of the injury and would have continued to be employed without a break in the term of employment if not for the injury.
     (b) The compensation benefits for a covered volunteer must be based on the average actual wages in the volunteer's regular employment, except self-employment as a sole proprietor or partner who elected not to be covered, from which the volunteer is disabled by the injury incurred.
     (c) The compensation benefits for an employee working at two or more concurrent remunerated employments must be based on the aggregate of average actual wages of all employments, except self-employment as a sole proprietor or partner who elected not to be covered, from which the employee is disabled by the injury incurred.

     History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 464, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 333, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 129, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 261, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 154, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 23, Ch. 619, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 131, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 243, L. 1995.