Commission Majority Finds That Petitioner's Overtime Hours Should Be Included in His Average Weekly Wage
In a recently decided case by the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, the injured worker worked an irregular number of “double time” hours ranging from .5 hours to 43 hours. The Court included these overtime benefits in determining his average weekly wage. A representative from the employer testified that overtime was required only in order to complete a job by a certain deadline. Otherwise, employees requested additional work and were dispatched by the main office to perform additional jobs. This witness also testified that employees could voluntarily refuse to work overtime and the work could be completed by another employee with no employment of wage repercussions. The petitioner testified that if he refused to work overtime hours, he “wouldn’t be there any longer.” The arbitrator concluded the overtime hours were voluntary and irregular.
The Commission on appeal upheld the decision based on the petitioner’s testimony that overtime was mandatory and that he “wouldn’t be there any longer” if he refused to work overtime. They also noted the respondent’s witness acknowledged that employees were not allowed to abandon a job at the end of an 8-hour shift. The witness also admitted that employees “must exceed 40 hours per week ‘when the job goes into the weekend’ or when bridge work is involved and ‘employees are required to work at night."
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