Member Alert: DWC's Announcement on TD Rates for 2022

Yesterday the DWC issued a Newsline advising that the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) declined between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 and as a result there would be no change in the TD rates and other workers’ compensation benefits for 2022.

We believe DWC’s announcement may be premature as it appears the Division calculated the change in the SAWW based on incomplete data posted on the Department of Labor (DOL) website.  A check of the DOL table used by the Division shows a sharp uptrend (+10.3%) in the SAWW over the prior three quarters (from $1,383 in Q1 2020 to $1,526 in Q4 2020), so we expect there may be a significant year-to-year increase once the final Q1 2021 figure is posted.  However, the DOL table that is currently posted shows that the final wage and labor force data needed to calculate the Q1 2021 SAWW have not yet been fully reported.  According to the Report Notes above the table, that data will be updated once all reports have been received.  Last year, the final Q1 figures were not posted until November.

We have alerted the Division and requested that they check with the Department of Labor to confirm the SAWW figures.  CWCI will issue an Executive Memo and Bulletin once the final SAWW figures have been verified.  Stay tuned.

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