California Workers’ Compensation Articles

The First Thing People Ask After Getting Hurt You’ve had the same doctor for twelve years. She knows your history, she knows your back, and she’s the person you’d call about anything else. Then you hurt yourself at work, and you’re told to go to an occupational clinic you’ve never heard of, to see a physician who has thirteen minutes for you. The question is immediate and completely reasonable: can’t I just see my own

A Different Set of Rules for the People Who Run Toward It Most injured Californians on workers’ compensation take a significant pay cut. Temporary disability replaces about two-thirds of average weekly wages, and it’s subject to a statutory ceiling — which for 2026 is $1,764.11 per week. For a worker earning well above that cap, the drop is steep and immediate. California treats certain public safety employees differently. Under Labor Code section 4850, an injured

When You Can’t Go Back to the Job You Had Some work injuries heal and you return to the same job. Others end a career. A roofer with a permanently restricted shoulder, a nurse who can no longer lift patients, a heavy-equipment operator who can’t sit through a full shift — these workers recover as much as they’re going to recover, and the job they had is still gone. California has a benefit for exactly

The Letter That Says No Your doctor examined you, decided you need an MRI, or physical therapy, or a surgical consult, and submitted a request. Weeks later a letter arrives from a company you’ve never heard of, signed by a physician you’ve never met, in a state you may not live in, explaining that the treatment your doctor ordered is not medically necessary. That letter is a utilization review decision, and it is one of

The Question Everyone Asks in Month Four The first few months of a workers’ compensation claim are consumed by immediate problems: getting treatment authorized, getting the first check, figuring out whether your job will still be there. Then somewhere around month four or five, a different question arrives, and it tends to arrive at two in the morning. How long does this last? It’s a fair question with a specific answer, and the answer has