Which workers does this provision reach when a disability pension is calculated, and what comparison puts its average wage floor in play?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file, we read the wage records showing the worker's average wage and the period they cover, since the provision turns on whether that figure falls below the stated level. We also read the minimum wage figure in force, as the comparison needs the worker's average wage and that minimum wage amount.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading treats the provision as reaching any worker for whom a disability pension is being calculated under the preceding provision: where that worker's average wage is less than the minimum wage amount multiplied by the fraction this provision sets, the same amount is deemed to be the average wage, and the pension is worked out from that deemed figure.
Another reading notes that the provision fixes only the average wage taken as the basis, because the next paragraph takes the amount calculated with this deemed figure, divides it to give a daily payment, and where that daily payment falls below the daily temporary incapacity benefit amount calculated as a separate provision sets, requires the latter amount to be used as the daily payment, while nothing here says which minimum wage amount applies where more than one was in force.
Your judgment
When the minimum wage changed during the period the average wage covers, which amount does the comparison in this file use?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change the fraction or to name the applicable minimum wage amount, or if a decision explains which minimum wage applies where it changed during the wage period.