A return to work does not always answer whether a crash has changed someone’s ability to earn income. Hours may vary, restrictions may change, an attempted return may end, or a person may perform different duties while recovery remains uncertain. A useful record shows those changes over time without asking the worker, employer, or clinician to predict more than the available information supports.

This guide focuses on a work-capacity record during an unsettled recovery. The existing guide to how future earnings are evaluated after a crash explains the broader difference between past wage loss and reduced earning capacity.

Record work status as it changes

Start with a dated work-status table rather than a single statement that the person is “back at work” or “unable to work.” For each period, record the scheduled hours, hours actually worked, job title, assigned duties, location, pay basis, overtime opportunity, leave used, and any written restriction or accommodation. Identify the source for every entry.

A record might show a full absence, a part-time return, restricted duty, an unsuccessful work attempt, a new position, or full hours with fewer responsibilities. Those descriptions are more precise than assuming that one paycheck proves full recovery or that one difficult day proves a permanent loss.

Attorney Matthew Fleishman explains, “Recovery does not always follow a straight line.” Preserve that variation accurately. Do not select only the best or worst days.

Keep medical, employment, and income records distinct

Different sources answer different questions:

  • Clinical records: diagnosis, symptoms reported for care, treatment, functional findings, restrictions, and prognosis within the clinician’s role.
  • Employer records: essential duties, schedules, attendance, approved leave, assignments, accommodations, performance expectations, and job changes.
  • Income records: wages, salary, overtime, commission, bonuses, benefits, business income, and the period each figure covers.
  • Worker account: tasks attempted, help required, symptoms experienced, and why a shift, task, or work attempt changed.

Do not make one source speak for another. A pay stub can show earnings but not the medical reason for a restriction. A clinical note can describe a limitation but may not establish the worker’s exact duties or lost income. An employer’s schedule can show hours worked but not whether the arrangement will continue.

Track the difference between capacity and earnings

Current pay and earning capacity are related but not identical. A person may temporarily receive the same salary while working fewer duties, using leave, receiving help from coworkers, or relying on an arrangement that has no confirmed end date. Another person may have lower earnings for reasons unrelated to the collision.

For each claimed work effect, record both sides of the comparison:

  • the pre-crash duty, schedule, and compensation;
  • the current duty, schedule, and compensation;
  • the dated source for the difference;
  • the medical or workplace record connecting the change to a restriction, if one exists; and
  • any other supported explanation for the change.

North Carolina’s official report of Smith v. Corsat explains that prior earnings may inform future earning capacity when there is a reasonable relationship between past and probable future earnings. It also cautions that business profits and personal earnings are not automatically the same. For a self-employed person, gross revenue, expenses, capital, employee labor, and the value of the owner’s own services should therefore be separated rather than treated as one number.

Mark uncertainty instead of filling it with a forecast

When a restriction is temporary, record its stated duration or review date. When no duration is given, say that. Preserve superseded work notes rather than replacing them, because the sequence may show how capacity changed. If two sources conflict, identify the conflict and ask the appropriate source to clarify it.

A hypothetical delivery driver might return to an office role at the same employer. The record should identify the new duties, actual pay, missed overtime, duration of the arrangement, and current clinical restrictions. It should not assume that the office role will become permanent, that a promotion would certainly have occurred, or that every later earnings difference resulted from the crash.

North Carolina Rule of Evidence 702 requires expert testimony to rest on sufficient facts or data and reliable methods when specialized knowledge is needed. That rule does not mean every future-income question requires an expert. It does show why vocational or financial projections should expose their assumptions, source periods, and calculations instead of presenting a single unexplained number.

Use the record for the next decision

A periodic review can identify what is established, what has changed, and what remains unknown. Useful questions include whether the current restriction has an end or reassessment date, whether the employer has confirmed the available duties, whether the income comparison uses matching periods, and whether a projection includes unsupported raises, overtime, or career changes.

Care decisions belong to the patient and clinician. A work-capacity record should describe real events and restrictions; it should never encourage treatment, delayed recovery, or continued absence for the purpose of proving a claim.

When work status, prognosis, and financial projections do not align, a car accident damages consultation with Rosensteel Fleishman can review the medical, employment, and income records and identify which assumptions still need support.

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