Build a date-based record
Start with the actual dates and hours you missed. Add your usual schedule, pay rate, and the document supporting each item. A monthly bank deposit alone may not explain which hours were missed or why. Keep employer records and medical work restrictions separate but easy to connect by date.
The California Courts’ pre-lawsuit guide identifies wage and medical documentation as examples of evidence for injury-related losses. This guide offers an organizational method, not a rule for how every jurisdiction calculates recoverable wages.
Show the arithmetic without hiding assumptions
For an invented example, four missed eight-hour shifts at $25 an hour equal $800 in scheduled gross pay. If one shift was covered by paid leave, record that payment in a separate column. Do not assume the legal treatment of leave or other benefits; identify it for review.
Overtime, tips, commissions, bonuses, and variable schedules require more than multiplying the most favorable week. Gather records covering a representative period and explain unusual changes. A planned promotion that never became effective is different from an established pay rate.
Use the right record for the type of work
- Employees: schedules, pay statements, attendance records, and an employer confirmation.
- Contractors: invoices, engagement terms, canceled work, and associated expense records.
- Business owners: records that distinguish business revenue, avoided costs, replacement labor, and personal earnings.
A canceled $2,000 project is not automatically a $2,000 personal income loss if performing it would have required substantial expenses. Keep the calculation transparent and ask an appropriate professional how the applicable law treats it.
Separate past loss from future capacity
Past missed pay concerns an identified period. Future earning capacity raises different questions about lasting limitations and work prospects. California’s permanent disability information also illustrates that a workers’ compensation benefit is a distinct legal framework, not simply the same spreadsheet used for a civil injury claim.
Finish with a list of unresolved points: disputed dates, missing employer confirmation, variable pay, or continuing restrictions. Take those questions to the reviewer rather than filling gaps with a guessed annual salary or a universal percentage.