--- title: How do I figure out my lost wages from my on job injury? description: Learn how to calculate the wages you lost when you were injured on the railroad. Use this information to figure out the value of your FELA claim. image: https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hub/312738/file-707738704.jpg --- [![fw-fela-logo.png](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/fw-fela-logo.png?width=504&name=fw-fela-logo.png "fw-fela-logo.png")](https://www.felaattorney.com/) ![lpheader-blog-header.jpg](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LP_Headers/lpheader-blog-header.jpg?width=1024&name=lpheader-blog-header.jpg "lpheader-blog-header.jpg") ## FELA Attorney's Blog | Exploring the rights and issues of railroad workers and rail passengers # How do I figure out my lost wages from my on job injury? Posted by [Marc Wietzke](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/author/marc-wietzke) on May 2, 2014 12:38:00 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![DSCN1290](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hub/312738/file-707738704.jpg?width=324&name=file-707738704.jpg)Lost wages are an objective cornerstone of any claim resolution. [If you’re trying to figure out the value of your case there are other factors to consider also, like the severity of your injury or how many years you have before retirement. Click HERE for more. ](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/hurt-on-railroad-how-much-is-my-case-worth) But the starting place for every injury claim is this: How much did I lose in wages? The concept of the calculation is straight forward. But the mathematics can get confusing. Let me break it down: > Basically, you first figure out how much time you lost. It might be more than one period of time. Then you enter your hourly rate. Then you make note of the average number of hours of overtime each week. With that, you can know your gross wage loss. But under the FELA, you are not entitled to your gross wage loss. You are only entitled to NET wage loss, meaning after reduction for taxes you would have normally paid on the earnings. Most railroad workers fall in the 25% tax bracket. So from your gross wage loss, you knock off 25%. That net number is your recoverable wage loss. That number is also the starting point for determining what you should recover for your injury. However, I’ve designed a simple spreadsheet to do the work for you. You can see from this screenshot that this railroad worker’s injury kept him out of work for two weeks straight. Over that period he lost $3,000 in wages. After taxes the loss is $2,250.  ![wage_loss_calculator_capture](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hub/312738/file-711344520.jpg)   If you’re injury caused you to lose time over more than one period, like the day you were injured and then when you went out again for surgery, and/or if you had to retire early, you can enter those separate periods. This spreadsheet can accommodate up to three separate periods of lost time. Just plug in your numbers: Out of Work date, Return to Work date, hourly wage rate and average weekly overtime hours and the spreadsheet will magically calculate your losses. You can use this information to help you decide if you want to file your claim on your own or hire a FELA attorney to handle your case. Photo by Marc Wietzke [![Find exactly how many dollars you lost when you were injured on the railroad. Download our free wage loss calculator.](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/312738/8c15a08a-49b6-4534-8852-d57274fd01c4.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/312738/8c15a08a-49b6-4534-8852-d57274fd01c4) [![GOT QUESTIONS?  CLICK TO ASK ATTORNEY MARC WIETZKE](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/312738/899b6f52-9d39-4eae-bccc-a80389a8beb8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/312738/899b6f52-9d39-4eae-bccc-a80389a8beb8) Topics: [FAQs on the job injuries](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/faqs-on-the-job-injuries), [Rights of Railroad workers](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/rights-of-railroad-workers), [Basic steps to filing a fela lawsuit](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/basic-steps-to-filing-a-fela-lawsuit), [lost wages](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/lost-wages) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Recent Posts ### Posts by Topic - [FELA injury (31)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/fela-injury) - [FAQs on the job injuries (24)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/faqs-on-the-job-injuries) - [Basic steps to filing a fela lawsuit (20)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/basic-steps-to-filing-a-fela-lawsuit) - [Railroad safety issues (19)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/railroad-safety-issues) - [FELA recovery (15)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/fela-recovery) - [whistleblower (13)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/whistleblower) - [Rights of Railroad workers (11)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/rights-of-railroad-workers) - [settlements (10)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/settlements) - [reporting safety concerns (8)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/reporting-safety-concerns) - [how to file a claim against railroad (7)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/how-to-file-a-claim-against-railroad) - [verdict (7)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/verdict) - [how much is my case worth? (6)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/how-much-is-my-case-worth) - [how to file your own injury claim (6)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/how-to-file-your-own-injury-claim) - [how to hire a railroad lawyer (6)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/how-to-hire-a-railroad-lawyer) - [trials (6)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/trials) - [FELA v Workers' Comp (5)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/fela-v-workers-comp) - [Passenger railroad injuries (5)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/passenger-railroad-injuries) - [Train accidents (5)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/train-accidents) - [commuter (5)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/commuter) - [unions (5)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/unions) - [Checklist for hiring railroad lawyer (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/checklist-for-hiring-railroad-lawyer) - [LIRR (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/lirr) - [PEB (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/peb) - [amtrak (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/amtrak) - [compensatory damages (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/compensatory-damages) - [injured passengers (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/injured-passengers) - [lost wages (4)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/lost-wages) - [eye injury (3)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/eye-injury) - [wage loss calculator (3)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/wage-loss-calculator) - [Hoboken crash 2016 (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/hoboken-crash-2016) - [LIRR strike (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/lirr-strike) - [NJ Transit (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/nj-transit) - [NTSB (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/ntsb) - [PEB 245 (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/peb-245) - [Thoughts on the legal industry (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/thoughts-on-the-legal-industry) - [attacked at work (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/attacked-at-work) - [surveillance (2)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/surveillance) - [Engineers (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/engineers) - [FRR deep dive into Metro-North safety culture (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/frr-deep-dive-into-metro-north-safety-culture) - [MTA (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/mta) - [Medical forms (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/medical-forms) - [Metro North (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/metro-north) - [Multiple injuries (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/multiple-injuries) - [Railroad blogs to read (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/railroad-blogs-to-read) - [crude oil (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/crude-oil) - [finger injury (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/finger-injury) - [hosptial (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/hosptial) - [medical marijuana (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/medical-marijuana) - [punitive damages (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/punitive-damages) - [railroad injury deposition (1)](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/topic/railroad-injury-deposition) [see all](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog/-how-do-i-figure-out-my-lost-wages-from-my-on-job-injury#) ### About Us ![Flynn Wietzke FELA injury attorneys](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/fw-fela-logo-drkbkg.png?width=504&name=fw-fela-logo-drkbkg.png "Flynn Wietzke FELA injury attorneys") Railroad lawyer Marc Wietzke focuses on FELA injury and whistleblower law for railroad workers injured or punished on the job. ### Services - [Home](https://www.felaattorney.com/) - [About Us](https://www.felaattorney.com/about-us) - [Wins](https://www.felaattorney.com/wins) - [Blog](https://www.felaattorney.com/blog) - [Contact Us](https://www.felaattorney.com/contact-us) ### From Blog --- ### Main Office 1205 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 T: (516) 877-1234 • F: (516) 877-1177 *With offices throughout the country [![Super Lawyers since 2014](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/new-fela-super-lawyers-logo-white-since-2014.png?width=150&height=150&name=new-fela-super-lawyers-logo-white-since-2014.png)](http://profiles.superlawyers.com/new-york-metro/garden-city/lawyer/marc-wietzke/11f74a17-3aee-4c7b-98a7-8a2f7803ab57.html) [![Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/multimillion-dollar-advocates-forum.png?width=150&height=150&name=multimillion-dollar-advocates-forum.png)](http://milliondollaradvocates.com/) [![ARLA](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/arla-footer.png?width=150&height=150&name=arla-footer.png)](http://www.arladepot.org/officers.html) [![10 Best Attorney 2017 American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ten-best-attorney.png?width=150&height=150&name=ten-best-attorney.png)](http://aiopia.org/) [![Best Attorney of America Lifetime Charter Member](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/best-attorney-of-america-lifetime-charter-member.png?width=150&height=150&name=best-attorney-of-america-lifetime-charter-member.png)](https://www.bestattorneysofamerica.com/) [![Best Law Firms of America Lifetime Member](https://www.felaattorney.com/hs-fs/hubfs/best-law-firms-of-america-footer.png?width=150&height=150&name=best-law-firms-of-america-footer.png)](https://bestlawfirmsofamerica.com/) --- ***ATTORNEY ADVERTISING - ***Prior results don’t guarantee a similar outcome in your claim. This website and blog are for informational purposes and do not constitute legal advice, since only after knowing the details of your claim can any advice be provided. Please understand that particular laws vary by state. You must speak directly with an attorney about your situation to determine what laws apply.   PRIVACY POLICY - As a law firm, we do not share any information received from any contact without that contact's specific permission.