- Earnings basis (long-term)
- Earnings basis (concurrent employment) (self-employment)
- Loss of earnings {LOE} (concurrent employment)
The issue under appeal concerned the recalculation of the worker's long-term earnings basis to include concurrent employment earnings.
The appeal was denied. The Vice-Chair stated that it could not be concluded, on a balance of probabilities, that the worker earned the income in the four weeks prior to the February 16, 2019 accident. Thus, the evidence did not establish, on a balance of probabilities, that the worker had concurrent earnings within the 4 weeks of his workplace accident occurring on February 16, 2019.Furthermore, OPM Document No. 18-02-05 expressly states that pre-accident self-employment earnings are included only if optional insurance coverage had been purchased and remained in place on the date of accident. There was no evidence to demonstrate that the worker purchased optional insurance for his self-employment as a ride-share driver.The worker's representative also relied on OPM Document No. 18-02-03, "Determining Long-term Average Earnings: Workers in Permanent Employment", which indicates that a recalculation may be appropriate if a worker had prior earnings not included in the short-term average earnings. However, consistent with the policy on concurrent employment, this policy clearly addresses the treatment of self-employment earnings in the absence of optional insurance coverage: "...neither the earnings from the non-covered self-employment nor the time worked in the non-covered self-employment may be included in the recalculation."