Any California employer with one or more employees is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance coverage. An employee becomes eligible for workers’ compensation benefits when he or she is injured in the course of their employment by an anticipated and foreseeable rise of that employment. Those rules don’t just cover injuries either. They also contemplate occupational illnesses. Let’s put that
When a worker is injured in California in a job-related accident, the employer’s worker’s compensation insurance (WCI) will pay out certain benefits. Many people wonder of those are taxable. Are any WC Benefits Taxable? In almost all cases, the answer is no. Both state and federal policies typically do not injury-related payments such as a personal injury award or worker’s
In California, worker’s compensation records—including settlements—are public record, but there are laws protecting information located in a case file from being made open to the public for just any reason. Section 5501.5 of the California Public Records Act specifically excludes WC case information from being accessed by anyone who is not a party to the case. The act says that
In certain circumstances, benefits to an injured worker in California can be backdated or made retroactive. There are two common circumstances where WC benefits are backdated. 14-Day Rule If the injury lasts more than 14 days, or the worker is hospitalized, the employee will receive back payment for the three-day waiting period for missed wages. When a work-related injury happens
What Are the Differences Between an Agreed Medical Legal Examiner (AME) and a Panel Qualified Medical Legal Examiner (PQME) in California Workers’ Compensation? Both AME’s and PQME’s are Medical Legal Evaluators. What that means, in part, is that they are not Treating Physicians. They are physicians that review medical records concerning a work injury. They also conduct a physical evaluation
There are two primary reasons an applicant attorney will not represent an injured worker with a stress claim. We’ll explore both of these here. The first reason is simply a business decision. Settlements in workers’ compensation cases are based on two primary components, the dollar value of the Permanent Disability and money to buyout the injured worker’s right to future medical care.
No, not yet. As of September 2019, both companies are not required to carry Workers’ Compensation Insurance because they are still classifying their drivers’ as independent contractors, not employees. Uber and Lyft are the top two Transportation Network Companies. TNC’s are part of the “gig economy”. The gig economy is made up a workforce that is uses temporary contracts, short-term
You’re hurt at work and you file a claim. Your claim is finally accepted, and you enter the healing phase of your workers’ compensation case. You start receiving Temporary Disability Benefits and then one the day, you were expecting your TD check and it’s not there. Why? There are several reasons why an injured worker is receiving temporary disability checks
In a word, yes, it is. By far, the number one way the workers’ compensation system is broken is how medical care is authorized. First of all, injured workers have to treat within the insurance company’s medical provider network of doctors. That is called an MPN (Medical Provider Network). An injured worker is limited to this network, with few exceptions,
First, it’s important to understand that pain is a medical issue and should be discussed with your doctor. What if your doctor isn’t listening? Attorneys often see injured workers with a condition known as Complex Regional Pain Disorder (CRPS), formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). It is a neurological disorder and one of the main symptoms is excruciating pain.
