Rehfeld v. Sedgewick Claims Management Servs.

A workers' compensation claimant employed by an employer whose pay scheme does not comply with ORS chapter 656 is entitled to her "assumed wage" as compensation.

Rehfeld sought review of the Workers’ Compensation Board’s (Board) decision to award her only $50 per week in temporary disability benefits because she did not earn a weekly wage. She argued that she was entitled to benefits equal to at least the statutory minimum wage in compensation for lost future commissions pay. ORS 656.054(1) states that a “compensable injury to a subject worker while in the employ of a noncomplying employer is compensable to the same extent as it the employer had complied with [chapter 656].” OAR 436-060-0025(5)(i) states that, where a claimant does not have a complying wage, they are to be paid their calculable “assumed wage” as benefits. The Court held that the Board erred in awarding only the statutory minimum, as under ORS 656.054(1) and OAR 436-060-0025(5)(i), Rehfeld should have received benefits equal to her “assumed wage.” Reversed and remanded.