Roswell AWW: Georgia’s 2025 Comp Changes Explained

If you get hurt at work, you have to know how your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) Georgia is calculated because it directly controls how much money you get in workers’ comp benefits. That number is what they use to figure out your temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, and permanent partial disability checks. And with the maximum compensation rates changing again on July 1, 2025, getting your AWW right is more important than ever.

Recent Changes to Georgia’s Workers’ Compensation Rates (Effective July 1, 2025)

Georgia’s workers’ comp system isn’t static. The benefit caps get adjusted now and then to reflect economic changes. A big update is coming for any injuries that happen on or after July 1, 2025, which raises the maximum weekly pay-out for temporary total disability. The Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation (SBWC) has set the new maximum at $850 per week, a bump up from the old $825. At the same time, the cap for temporary partial disability benefits is also going up to $567 per week. These new maximums, passed by the Georgia General Assembly, set the ceiling on what you can receive, even if your AWW calculation would otherwise give you more.

If your injury happened before that date, the old maximums are what apply to your case. You have to know which rate applies to your injury date because using the wrong one means your benefit payments will be wrong. The State Board of Workers’ Compensation, over at 270 Peachtree Street NW in Atlanta, posts these updates, and if you’re handling these claims, you have to keep up.

How Georgia Law Defines and Calculates Average Weekly Wage

The whole process for figuring out an injured worker’s Average Weekly Wage is laid out in Georgia law, specifically in O.C.G.A. Section 34-9-260. The point is to get a number that honestly reflects what you were capable of earning when you got hurt. For most employees, the math is simple: add up your total gross wages from the 13 weeks right before you were injured, and then divide that by 13. This should include your regular salary, hourly pay, overtime, bonuses, and even the market value of perks like company housing or meals, as long as they were a regular part of your pay.

For example, say you work in Roswell and made a steady $1,000 a week for those 13 weeks. Your AWW is $1,000. Your temporary disability checks would be two-thirds of that, or $666.67 a week (as long as it’s under the state max). For a lot of people, that simple math works, but things get complicated fast.

Working through Complex AWW Scenarios: Seasonal, Part-Time, and Irregular Employment

The 13-week average is the standard, but people’s work lives aren’t always that neat and tidy. Thankfully, the law has other ways to calculate AWW to make sure it’s fair for people who don’t have a conventional 9-to-5 schedule. And this is exactly where most of the arguments with the insurance company start.

Seasonal Employment

If you only work certain seasons, like many in agriculture or in tourism jobs around Lake Lanier, basing your AWW on the 13 weeks before your injury might not be fair if that was your off-season. In that case, the law says to look at your total wages from the entire 52 weeks before the injury and divide by 52. The tough part is digging up all the pay records, especially if you had multiple jobs or inconsistent work during that year.

Part-Time or Intermittent Employment

What about part-timers or people with really irregular hours? For them, O.C.G.A. Section 34-9-260(2) allows you to use the wages of a similarly situated employee who does the same kind of work full-time. If you can’t find a good comparison, the calculation might fall back to your own earnings over the previous 52 weeks, divided by 52. This rule protects someone working, say, 20 hours a week from getting shortchanged just because their injury happened during a slow period. It’s a good protection to have, but trying to prove another employee is “similarly situated” can turn into a real fight.

New Employees or Those with Recent Raises

What if you just started a job or got a big raise right before you got hurt? The law has an answer for this as well. If the 13-week average doesn’t show your real earning power (maybe because of a promotion or starting a better job), the AWW can be figured based on what you *would have* earned if you’d worked a full 13 weeks at that new rate. This stops a recent, temporary dip in your pay from dragging down your benefit amount.

I’ve seen cases where a worker in a Roswell manufacturing plant, for instance, received a substantial hourly wage increase just two weeks before a debilitating machinery accident. Using their old pay rate for 11 of the 13 weeks would have completely understated what they were actually earning at the time of injury. In a case like that, you absolutely have to argue for an AWW that’s based on your new, higher pay rate.

What Counts as “Wages” for AWW Purposes?

You have to know what the law considers “wages” just as much as you need to know the right time period for the calculation. The number is always based on your gross earnings, which is your pay before taxes and other deductions are taken out. This means it includes:

• Hourly Wages and Salary: This is the easy part.
• Overtime Pay: Overtime that you get all the time is part of your wages. If it’s just once in a while, the insurance company might try to argue it doesn’t count.
• Commissions and Bonuses: Regular commissions and bonuses count. Those one-off performance bonuses, though, are harder to prove as a regular part of your pay.
• Value of Board, Lodging, or Other Advantages: If your job provides things like housing, meals, or a company car that have a clear cash value and are part of your compensation, that value gets added to your wages. You see this a lot with live-in caregivers or some jobs in the hospitality industry where housing is part of the deal.
• Tips: If you work in the service industry, your documented tips are considered wages. That’s why accurately reporting your tips is so important.

On the other hand, things like reimbursement for expenses, a payout for vacation time you didn’t use, or severance pay usually don’t count. It all comes down to one question: was this payment a regular part of your earnings for the work you did?

The Role of Payroll Records and Employer Cooperation

You can’t calculate an AWW correctly without accurate payroll records. They’re everything. By law, your employer has to keep these records and hand them over for a workers’ comp claim. Getting your hands on those records isn’t always easy, though. Employers can be slow, or the records they have might be a mess. You’ve got to stay on top of them.

The SBWC makes employers use a specific form for this, Form WC-6, the “Wage Statement.” On it, they’re supposed to list your pay for the 13 weeks before the injury, and for the 52 weeks if that’s needed. The form is a start, but you should always ask for the actual payroll documents (the pay stubs, W-2s, and even bank deposit records) to back it up. Don’t just take the form at face value.

If an employer won’t give you the records, a workers’ comp attorney can file a motion with the State Board to force them to produce the documents. This happens all the time, especially with smaller companies that don’t have a real HR department. If you don’t have solid proof of your wages, proving your real AWW is a tough uphill battle.

Disputes Over AWW and Seeking Legal Counsel in Roswell

Arguments over the Average Weekly Wage are one of the most frequent fights in Georgia workers’ comp. It’s simple math for the insurance company: the lower they can get your AWW, the less they have to pay you. Even a small “mistake” in that calculation can cost you thousands of dollars over the course of your claim.

For instance, an insurer might “forget” to include your regular overtime or put a lowball value on the housing your employer provides, all of which lowers your weekly check. These arguments often end up in a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge at the State Board. To win an argument over your AWW, you need to know the specific Georgia laws and have the paperwork to back it up.

This is where a lawyer who specializes in Georgia workers’ comp comes in. They can:

• Get and review all your payroll records: Making sure every dollar you’re owed is counted.
• Figure out the right calculation method: Using the correct part of the law if you’re a seasonal, part-time, or new hire.
• Negotiate with the insurer: They can push for a fair AWW and try to get it fixed before you have to go to court.
• Represent you in court: If the insurance company won’t budge, your lawyer will present your case to the judge.

Whether you’re working in Roswell, Alpharetta, or Sandy Springs, the rules are the same. How we calculate your AWW really depends on your specific job history and how you got paid. I’ve seen it too many times: an injured worker just takes the first AWW number the insurance company gives them, assuming it’s right. Don’t make that mistake. You have to check their math. It can make a huge difference.

Conclusion

Your Average Weekly Wage is the single most important number in your Georgia workers’ comp claim. With the maximum benefit rates going up for injuries on or after July 1, 2025, getting that AWW calculated correctly is absolutely essential. Always double-check the insurance company’s wage statement, and if you have any doubt at all, talk to a workers’ compensation attorney to make sure you get the full benefits you’re entitled to.