BACKPAY CALCULATOR (FCHR METHOD)

User Guide

1. Data Input: enter your data, as follows:
   1. Termination Date: enter the date you were terminated.
      • Note: more generally speaking, this is the date in which your financial injury began
      • Alternative: enter the date your salary was decreased/disparate/suppressed
   2. Judgment Date: enter the date that the judgment was entered.
      • Alternative: enter the settlement date of your case (ie, the date your agreed-settlement went/goes into effect).
   3. Annual Wages: enter your annual salary/wages
      • Note: if you didn't work an entire year then:
        1. determine the annual equivalent to your pay; and
        2. enter that number in the "Annual Wages" box
      • Note: if you're only calculating pay disparity then:
        1. determine the difference between:
           1. what you should've been paid; and
           2. what you actually were paid.
        2. annualize that number
        3. enter that number in the "Annual Wages" box
        4. example: $1,000 = $50,000 - $49,000 (should've been paid 50k, but was discriminatorily paid 49k).
2. Recommended Usage: you'll probably get the best user-experience if you use Google Chrome.
3. Salary Changes/Offsets: if your wages/salary changed (or were offset by subsequent employment income) then do the following:
   1. separate this calculation into multiple parts.
   2. give each part the following inputs:
      • (1) start date;
      • (2) end date; and
      • (3) annualized payout.
   3. enter each input into the calculator
   4. hit calculate
   5. record the outcome
   6. repeat steps 4b-4e for each wage/salary.
4. Shortcuts: these keyboard shortcuts will run the calculation:
   • {ENTER} will run the calculation (if you're inside a user input field).
   • ALT+C will also run the calculation (from anywhere).

Calculation Info

• Simple Interest: The FCHR computes judgment interest with the simple interest methodology (ie, not the compound interest method).
  • Also, the agency doesn't attempt to compound interest on top of past interest.
• Units: The FCHR uses weekly units and quarterly units to determine the proportional interest rates
• Weekly Rounding: The FCHR rounds the weekly units to the nearest one-half (eg, 6.50 weeks, 13.00 weeks)
• Quarterly Assumption: The FCHR treats each quarter as being thirteen weeks long (and one-fourth of a year)
  • In other words, their calculation doesn't account for some quarters being longer than others (in terms of actual days)
• Base/Principal: The FCHR accumulates all past [would-be] paychecks to arrive at the base/principal.
  • the base/principal is never increased by past interest.
• Weighted Average: The FCHR takes a weighted-average of all the judgment interest rates within a year.
• Interest Earned: For each year, the FCHR multiplies that weighted-average interest rate by the base.
  • This product becomes the interest earned for the year.
• Totals
  • Wages = accumulation of all past [would-be] paychecks. In the table (above), this is the last row in the "Base" column.
  • Interest = sum of each year's interest. In the table (above), this is sum of each row in the "Interest Earned" column.
  • Back Pay = Wages + Interest.

Notes

• Recency: The FCHR most-recently used this calculation method in November 2021.
  • see Final Order 21-076 (Parsons v. McGee Tire; FCHR 2019-18423; DOAH 19-005134) (11/18/2021)
  • also see Final Order 18-038 (Logan v. Brow Art; FCHR 2017-00432; DOAH 17-005005) (8/2/2018)
• Rationale: The FCHR has not yet disclosed why it calculates judgment interest this way.
  • On April 27, 2022, TBD asked the agency why it used this methodoogy.
  • As of today's date, the civil rights agency has not responded. TBD will update this note when the FCHR answers.
  • TBD has not yet found any statute/case law/regulation/policy that says interest should/must be calculated this way.

TBD's Commentary

• Mathematical Shortcomings: The Simple Interest Method has some well-known mathematical faults:
  • Interest does not compound upon itself;
  • Instantaneous Withdrawing-&-Depositing will impact earned interest;
  • After about a year, simple earned interest will grow slower than compound earned interest;
  • Earned interest is impacted by the calculation interval (ie, end-of-month calculation versus end-of-year calculation)
• Continued Revelation: this mechanical calculation method lends further insight into the war that civil rights litigation wages with theory, truth, facts, and logic.
  • So, you should remain vigilant when recovering damages inflicted upon you by civil rights violations.
    • vigilance against your civil opponent; and
    • vigilance against the agencies/actors who've sworn to [supposedly] uphold your rights. (see 42 USC §1983)
• Useful: despite the shortcomings, this calculation method is still useful. In fact, in some instances, it will yield favorable results for the injured party.