Valueiing leave time for restitution

[JeffW]

My brother & his wife had an accident involving their son, and had to take a fair amount of time off from work (she actually is on idefinite leave). For both criminal and possible civil litigation, they are being asked to come up with a 'restituation' value.

For my SIL, she was initially paid for 2 months, but then received nothing (and has heard, when she goes back to work, she'll probably need to repay it). So for her, it's pretty easy - basically a full year's wages (if that's how long she ends up being out).

My brother is different. He used sick time initially, which supposedly isn't tracked anywhere. You just use it when you need it. Then I think he got into some family leave. He may have also used some vacation time.

So for their work time, is there a value you can place on it relative to their salary?

When I was hit by a trucker, I claimed time I needed to spend a therapy:
- sick time I can't get paid for, but I can accrue indefinitely. My logic here was, if I ever burned through that in the future, and had to start using other time, that was a loss to me
- vacation time if I left, I would get paid for.

My case never became litigious, but I think the "this is my lost time & wages" did help factor into the settlement they gave me.

My brothers's situation is different, so I'm not sure how to value that.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

 

[hypnotiq]

IANAL, but it seems to me, even if your brother (and his wife) received paid time off, family leave, etc, they should still be compensated for that time for the case of restitution.

The reason being is that if they have to take time off in the future, they may have to do it unpaid, due to the fact they were required to burn through it for the accident and no longer have it available.

At least that's what makes sense to me.

 

[JeffW]

That was the logic why I claimed sick time for my accident: less available time for me later io, causing me to potentially have to use unpaid time sooner.

I'll have to ask him on thow exactly that worked for him. If perhaps he can only take family leave say once per year, then there's a potential cost to using it now.

But then, is this a cost you can claim now, or is it almost an amended claim down the road, when it actually occurs? That's what I'm not sure about.


Jeff

 

[Passepartout]

This is what Personal Injury lawyers DO. Yes, they work on contingency- a percentage of what they get for the client, but they have a good feel for what compensation the injuring party is likely and able to pay.

I'd interview a couple of them and get their feelings. Usually there is no upfront cost.

I'm sorry for the accident, and hope for complete recovery and proper restitution for the victims and caregivers.

Jim

 

[Mel]

You're forgetting the son. Since you mention him, I'm assuming he was injured in some way. How does this accident impact his potential future earnings? Will is delay the time before he becomes gainfully employed? As was already mentioned, these are the types of questions a personal injury lawyer would ask. It might not seem relevant for a young child, but it can be.

 

[JeffW]

The son (my nephew) will be addressed separately. I'd expect that to be addressed in some civil suit (which, I believe for a minor, you have at least until they are 18, possibly 21, to file).

The issue at hand now is a request by the criminal court to come up with a restitution amount that can be presented at sentancing. I'm assuming there will be a way to amend it, since there's still ongoing medical procedures being done, probably loss of work time, etc.

So far, I don't think my brother has either lost any income, or had to use up any personal time. Between what I think is a pretty generous sick time policy, and family leave, he's received 100% of his salary. So there may not be anything for him to claim.

He did tell me that for now, his company is considering everything that happened to be one 'incident' (this started last summer), instead of separate ones (primary hospitalization, followup procedures, etc). If that doesn't change, then he's almost certainly going to run out of Family Leave time, and it's unclear if there would be a 'new incident' that would allow him to refile if necessary. While that's hanging out there, again I don't think it's claimable now.

Jeff

 

[caribbeansun]

The proper way to value this would be to consider the following:

- forgone wages from the time of the accident to their return to work

- if either of their companies issued across the board wage increases they should be compensated for that = present value of the wage differential until retirement age (likely not a big number nor are companies issuing across the board increases these days but thought it should be mentioned)

- any lost pension contributions that otherwise would have been made by the employer of each person

- used leave, the value of which today is zero vs the value it was at the time of the accident, the difference = loss

The intent is to put to back to being "whole" or where you were prior to the accident.

My brother & his wife had an accident involving their son, and had to take a fair amount of time off from work (she actually is on idefinite leave). For both criminal and possible civil litigation, they are being asked to come up with a 'restituation' value.

For my SIL, she was initially paid for 2 months, but then received nothing (and has heard, when she goes back to work, she'll probably need to repay it). So for her, it's pretty easy - basically a full year's wages (if that's how long she ends up being out).

My brother is different. He used sick time initially, which supposedly isn't tracked anywhere. You just use it when you need it. Then I think he got into some family leave. He may have also used some vacation time.

So for their work time, is there a value you can place on it relative to their salary?

When I was hit by a trucker, I claimed time I needed to spend a therapy:
- sick time I can't get paid for, but I can accrue indefinitely. My logic here was, if I ever burned through that in the future, and had to start using other time, that was a loss to me
- vacation time if I left, I would get paid for.

My case never became litigious, but I think the "this is my lost time & wages" did help factor into the settlement they gave me.

My brothers's situation is different, so I'm not sure how to value that.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff