Recovering Lost Wages After an Injury
By Elliot Singer, Esq. · Reviewed June 28, 2026
When an injury keeps you off work, the lost income is often the part of the harm that's felt first and hardest. It's also a recoverable part of a claim — but only to the extent it can be shown.
Lost wages are more than the paychecks you missed. They can reach time you had to use, income you can't earn the way you used to, and the particular complications of being self-employed. Here's what counts, and the records that turn it from an assertion into a number.
Missed work and direct lost income
The clearest piece is the pay you didn't receive because you couldn't work — hourly wages, salary, shifts, scheduled overtime you would have worked. If the injury kept you out, that income is part of the loss.
It also reaches the more easily overlooked items: missed bonuses or commissions tied to the time you were out, and tips for those who earn them. The principle is the same throughout — what you can document, you can claim.
Used PTO, sick leave, and vacation
If you stayed paid by drawing down accrued time off — sick days, vacation, personal leave — that's still a loss, even though a paycheck kept coming. Those hours had value; you earned them, and the injury forced you to spend them.
Documenting used leave can be less obvious than documenting a gap in pay, because the deposits look normal. A letter from your employer confirming the hours used, alongside leave-balance records, is what makes this part of the claim visible.
Lost earning capacity
Some injuries don't just cost the wages you missed during recovery — they change what you're able to earn going forward. If you can't return to the same role, have to cut your hours, or can no longer do work you used to do, that reduced future capacity is a distinct and often larger part of the loss.
This piece is more involved to establish than past wages, because it looks ahead rather than back. It typically draws on medical opinion about your limitations and, in significant cases, vocational or economic analysis. It's worth raising early, because it's easy to undercount and hard to revisit once a case is resolved.
If you're self-employed
Lost income for the self-employed is just as real, but it shows up differently — there's no pay stub, so the proof comes from the books. Profit-and-loss records, invoices, prior tax returns, 1099s, and contracts or bookings you had to turn down all help show what the injury cost the business.
The aim is to demonstrate the income the work would have produced and the gap the injury opened. Year-over-year comparisons and your own business records carry a lot of weight here, which is exactly why keeping them organized from the start pays off.
The documentation that proves it
Wage claims live or die on records. The core set is straightforward: recent pay stubs, a letter from your employer stating your role, rate, and the time you missed, and prior tax returns to establish your earnings history. For PTO, add leave records; for self-employment, the financial records above.
A medical note connecting your time off to the injury ties it together — it shows the absence was necessary, not optional. Gather these early, while they're easy to get; reconstructing them months later is harder, and the gaps tend to come out of your side of the ledger. A free case review can help you sort out which records matter for your situation.
Lost Wages FAQ
What counts as lost wages?+
The income you didn't earn because of the injury — hourly wages, salary, missed shifts and overtime, and often bonuses, commissions, or tips tied to the time you were out. Paid time off you had to use counts too.
Can I claim PTO or sick days I used?+
Generally yes. Even though you stayed paid, you spent hours you'd earned, and that's a loss. An employer letter confirming the leave used, with your balance records, is what documents it.
What is lost earning capacity?+
It's the reduction in what you can earn going forward — if you can't return to the same job, have to cut hours, or can no longer do work you once did. It's separate from past lost wages and often larger, and it usually needs medical and sometimes economic support.
How do lost wages work if I'm self-employed?+
Without pay stubs, the proof comes from your books: profit-and-loss records, invoices, prior tax returns, 1099s, and work you had to decline. Year-over-year comparisons help show the income the injury cost you.
What documents do I need to prove lost wages?+
Typically pay stubs, an employer letter stating your role, rate, and missed time, and prior tax returns. Add leave records for used PTO, business records if self-employed, and a medical note linking the time off to the injury.
Don't wait on the clock.
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