Employment and Wage-Loss Damages

By KW Economics Editorial Team · Updated

Back pay, front pay, and lost benefits in discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage-and-hour matters. The analysis reconstructs what the employee would have earned in the position, including raises, bonuses, and benefit accruals, measures actual interim earnings, and evaluates mitigation and the period over which front pay is reasonable. In wage-and-hour matters the same records drive an hours and pay reconstruction for the individual claim or the class.

KW Economics prepares employment damages analysis for plaintiff and defense counsel nationwide; the method is the same whichever side retains the economist.

Employment damages analysis at KW Economics is directed by Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA, Chief of Economic Services, who is available to testify to it.

Case Types

Employment Damages by Case Type

How employment damages analysis applies to the specific demands of each case type: methodology, deliverables, and what counsel should expect.

Frequently asked: Employment Damages

What is the difference between back pay and front pay?

Back pay runs from the adverse action to the date of trial or analysis and is built from what the employee would have earned in the position, less what the employee actually earned elsewhere. Front pay runs from that date forward until the employee reaches, or would reasonably reach, comparable compensation, and is discounted to present value. The report states both separately with the benefits component shown on its own.

How does the analysis treat mitigation?

Actual replacement earnings are taken from the employee's pay records and tax returns and netted against the but-for path year by year. Where the employee has not found comparable work, the report states a reasonable job-search duration and a replacement wage level drawn from local occupational data, and presents the loss with and without the offset so counsel can address whether the search was reasonable.

Can the analysis handle bonuses, commissions, and equity?

Yes. Variable pay is projected from the employee's own history, the plan's formula, and the awards of comparable employees where available; equity is valued from the plan terms and the vesting schedule the employee would have followed. Each element is shown separately because these components can exceed base pay for senior employees.

What does a wage-and-hour reconstruction involve?

Rebuilding the hours worked and the pay owed from timekeeping data, schedules, payroll records, and any other record of when work was performed, for an individual claimant or across a class. The report documents the method, the data gaps, and the assumptions used to fill them so the figure can be examined by pay period and by employee.

Guides and methods for employment damages

Employment Damages by State

References

How an expert on this work is qualified

No state licenses forensic economists. Qualification to testify on employment damages analysis is decided case by case on education, method, and testimony history; these pages explain what each credential establishes and what it does not.

Engagement Details

Request a consultation on Employment Damages or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.