Benefit for Loss of Earnings (LOE) If you miss time from work because of a work-related injury or illness, our insurance pays for loss of earnings. This benefit starts from the working day after the injury or illness occurred. How we calculate your loss of earnings benefit depends on the date the injury occurred. Date of injury Rate Based on On or after January 1, 1998 85 % Take home pay April 2, 1985 to December 31, 1997 90 % Take home pay Before April 1, 1985 75 % Pay before deductions We base benefit payments on an annual wage ceiling. Wages you receive above this ceiling are not covered. The annual wage ceiling is based each year on 175% of the average industrial wage (AIW) for Ontario: $74,600 in 2009. How long will I receive LOE benefits? Loss of earnings benefits continue until you are no longer impaired by your work-related injury or illness, or until you no longer have a loss of earnings, or until you reach age 65. If you are still impaired at age 65, LOE benefits stop, but loss of retirement income benefits may apply. If you are 63 years old or older at the time of injury, you can receive LOE benefits for up to two years as long as you have loss of earnings. How often will I be paid? You’ll receive an LOE payment every two weeks. After 72 months, the LOE benefit is made permanent. It may be turned into a lump sum payment if the amount of the benefit is less than 10% of what you would have received if you were unable to work at all. Is the LOE benefit adjusted for inflation? Yes. Each year, the WSIB adjusts LOE payments to take inflation into account. How is my pre-injury take-home pay calculated? The first 12 weeks of your LOE is based on your Short-term Average Earnings. These are all of the earnings you have with all your employers at the time of your injury and include most pay items that would regularly appear on your pay cheque. If you are in a non-permanent or irregular job where earnings fluctuate If your Form 7 indicates seasonal or irregular employment, after 12 weeks your adjudicator will recalculate your benefit based on your Long-term Average Earnings. These include all earnings you had in the 24 months before the injury. If you are in a permanent and regular job The WSIB does not automatically recalculate your average earnings since your long-term average earnings are expected to be the same as your short-term average earnings. You or your employer may request a recalculation if either of you believes that the short-term average earnings don’t accurately reflect your earnings for the year before your injury. In this case, recalculation is normally based on the 12 months of employment before the injury.