Legislature Passes Bill on Concurrent Wages

A bill that clarifies how wages should be calculated for South Dakota claimants who work more than one job has passed both the House of Representatives and Senate without a single vote in opposition. House Bill 1084 by Rep. David Anderson, R-Hudson, essentially codifies the South Dakota Supreme Court ruling in Wheeler v. Cinna Baker. The court ruled that the average weekly wage of a disabled claimant should be calculated according to earnings from all her part-time jobs, not just the wages paid by the employer for whom she was working when she was injured. HB 1084 requires benefits to be...