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Workers' compensation is the nation's oldest social insurance program: It was adopted in most states, including California, during the second decade of the 20th century. Unlike most social insurance programs, workers' compensation benefits are not administered by a government agency. They are administered primarily by insurance companies and those employers secure enough to self-insure their workers' compensation liability.
When an employer becomes aware of a work-related injury or illness, it is expected to begin providing benefits to the injured worker. Sometimes a dispute may arise between the claims administrator and the injured worker over benefits. That's where you come in.
Whether you represent employees (applicants), employers/ insurance carriers or lien claimants, there is useful information on this Web site to help you do your job efficiently and knowledgably. You can find provisions of the Labor Code, California Code of Regulations and pending or proposed rules that will help guide you through the litigation process. You will also be able to easily find the address of any of our 24 district offices in cities from Eureka to San Diego, along with a map and directions to each location. Important en banc and significant panel decisions issued by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board can be accessed here to help you find relevant case law authority. Finally, you can also locate Division of Workers' Compensation Newsline articles covering a wide variety of topics to keep you informed about current and proposed policies affecting your practice, including our EAMS paperless case management system.
Topics on this page include:
General information
Medical treatment information
Disability ratings
Retraining and return to work information
General information
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15th annual education conference - the largest workers' compensation educational event in the state. Held in March in both Northern and Southern California, this conference allows claims administrators, medical providers, attorneys, rehabilitation counselors and others in the workers' compensation community.
The Division of Workers' Compensation has a pilot project in Sacramento and San Diego designed to help reduce the number of expedited hearings and make the court system run more efficiently by simplifying the process of getting the parties in a disputed claim together to resolve their differences. Read more about this pilot project by clicking here. To participate in this project your case file must be in Sacramento or San Diego and you must use the request form.
Back to topDoctors in California's workers' compensation system are required to provide evidence-based medical treatment. That means they must choose treatments proven to cure or relieve work-related injuries and illnesses. Those treatments are laid out in a set of guidelines that provide details on which treatments are effective for certain injuries, as well as how often the treatment should be given and for how long, among other things. The state of California has adopted a medical treatment utilization schedule (MTUS)-the formal name for the state's medical treatment guidelines-that includes the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's (ACOEM) Practice Guidelines, Second Edition, plus guidelines for acupuncture. The Division of Workers' Compensation also has a committee that continuously evaluates new medical evidence about treatments and incorporates that evidence into its guidelines. Upcoming rulemaking on the MTUS will include chronic pain, elbow guidelines, postsurgical treatment guidelines and a new functional improvement report form
Additionally, employers are required to have a program called utilization review (UR). UR was implemented as a way to confirm the treating physician's plan for the injured worker is medically sound. To ensure prompt and effective medical treatment is provided to injured workers, UR must be completed within strict timelines. Claims administrators who don't meet the timelines or the criteria for a proper UR program are subject to audits and penalties. Injured workers, attorneys, medical providers or others who find that UR is not being done according to the regulations can file a complaint with the DWC.
More UR topics
Many employees now have their workers' comp injuries cared for by a doctor in a medical provider network (MPN) or a health care organization (HCO). These networks of doctors are similar to health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
Current list of approved medical provider networks by name of applicant 
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Current list of approved medical provider networks by approval date version version
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Your client and/or the claims administrator might disagree with what the treating doctor says about a work injury or treatment. There could be other disagreements over medical issues in the claim. A doctor has to address those disagreements. In that case you and the defense attorney may agree on a medical evaluator (AME) or, if you can't agree, your client will see a qualified medical evaluator (QME).
Frequently asked questions about QMEs
QME database
Discipline unit
More QME topics
Certified Health Care Organizations
More health care organization topics
Most workers fully recover from job injuries but some continue to have medical problems. Permanent disability (PD) is any lasting disability that results in a reduced earning capacity after maximum medical improvement is reached. The division has a fact sheet on PD for injured workers posted on its fact sheets and guides page.
Following the implementation of the 2005 permanent disability rating schedule (PDRS), the division undertook a study to examine its effects and determine what, if any, changes should be made to the schedule. The study reports were released in three phases in 2007 and are posted on the publications page of this site. Attorneys interested in the progress of rulemaking on this topic are encouraged to sign up for the DWC's Newsline, an email bulletin through which regulatory and other announcements are made.
Permanent disability rating schedule - 2005 
This schedule is effective for dates of injury on or after Jan. 1, 2005. This schedule will also be used to rate permanent disability in injuries that occurred before Jan. 1, 2005 when there has been either no comprehensive medical-legal report, or no report by a treating physician indicating the existence of permanent disability, or when the employer is not required to provide a notice to the injured worker under Labor Code section 4061.
Permanent disability rating schedule - 1997
This schedule is effective for dates of injury on or after Apr. 1, 1997
Permanent disability rating schedule - 1988
This schedule is effective for dates of injury on or after Jul. 1988
More disability rating topics
Answers to practitioners' questions about applying the permanent disability rating schedule
Medical report reference materials
For cases rated under the 1997 or earlier rating schedules
Commutation templates and instructions .zip file
Templates and instructions to facilitate the calculation of life pension and permanent disability benefit commutations. When properly used, the templates assure that calculations are done in accordance with commutation calculation methods and tables that went into effect Jan. 17, 2001. The regulations and tables can be found in section 10169 and 10169.1 of Title 8, California Code of Regulations.
More disability rating topics
Evaluation protocols - for injuries rated under 1997 permanent disability rating schedule and prior
Cardiac
Foot and ankle
Immunologic
Neuromusculoskeletal
Psychiatry
Pulmonary
Retraining and return to work information
Getting employees back to work after an injury is one of the most important goals of the workers' compensation system. Workers who return to the job as soon as medically possible have the best outcomes: They recover from their injuries faster and suffer less wage loss. You, the injured worker, the employer, the claims administrator and the doctor are encouraged to communicate openly and frequently for the best results.
The Division of Workers' Compensation has a return to work incentive program for small employers. Under the return to work regulations, employers with 50 or fewer workers who make modifications to a workplace to bring an employee injured on or after Jan. 1, 2004 back to the job can be reimbursed for up to $2,500 in expenses.
Another section of the return to work regulations provides an incentive for employers with 50 or more employees to bring permanently disabled workers back to the job. Employers with 50 or more workers who offer injured employees regular, modified or alternative work will pay 15 percent lower weekly permanent disability benefits once the offer is made. Conversely, employers with 50 or more workers who don't make a return to work offer will pay 15 percent more in weekly permanent disability benefits.
More return to work topics
Prior to recent workers' compensation reforms many permanently disabled workers qualified for vocational rehabilitation. Employees with permanent disability who were injured on the job before Jan. 1, 2004, and whose employer does not offer other work may still qualify for vocational rehabilitation benefits.
Vocational return to work counselors (VRTWC) list 
California standards regarding the timeliness and quality of rehabilitation services
Independent vocational evaluator list 
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Employees injured on or after Jan. 1, 2004, who are permanently unable to do their usual job, and whose employer does not offer other work, may qualify for supplemental job displacement benefits (SJDB). This benefit is in the form of a voucher that will help pay for educational retraining or skill enhancement, or both, at state-approved or state-accredited schools.
The law (Labor Code section 4658.5) says that employees who do not return to work for their employer within 60 days of the end of temporary disability payments will receive a voucher. The amount of the voucher is based on the percentage of the injured worker's disability.
More SJDB topics
September 2007