California workers' comp pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you cannot work, plus a separate amount for permanent impairment. Here is how the math actually shakes out, with real LA examples.
The Two Main Payments
Workers' comp pays you in two categories that often run back-to-back:
- Temporary disability (TD) while you cannot work or are on restrictions your employer cannot accommodate
- Permanent disability (PD) at the end of treatment, based on the impairment that remains
Calculating Temporary Disability
TD pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage, but is capped at a state maximum that adjusts every year. For injuries in 2026, the maximum weekly rate is roughly $1,680. The minimum is around $252.
Example: a $25-per-hour warehouse worker in Commerce makes $1,000 a week. Two-thirds of that is $666.67 per week, paid every two weeks, tax-free, while she is off work. Over six months, that is roughly $17,300.
Example: a high-earning sales rep making $4,000 a week is capped at the state max of $1,680 per week, no matter how high the salary goes. Two-thirds of $4,000 would be $2,667, but the cap kicks in. This is a major issue for high-income workers and one reason third-party cases matter when they exist.
Average Weekly Wage Math
The carrier should calculate AWW from your earnings in the year before injury, including overtime, bonuses, tips, and second-job earnings (concurrent employment). They do not always get it right. We see understated AWW in the majority of new files we open. Insist on a wage statement and double-check it.
How Long TD Lasts
Up to 104 weeks of payments within five years of the date of injury, for most injuries. Some catastrophic injuries (severe burns, amputations, chronic lung disease) get up to 240 weeks. Once you hit the cap or your doctor declares you Permanent and Stationary (MMI), TD ends and PD starts.
Calculating Permanent Disability
At MMI, the treating doctor (or QME or AME) assigns a Whole Person Impairment percentage following the AMA Guides 5th Edition. That number gets adjusted by occupation, age, and the formula in Labor Code § 4660.1 to produce a Permanent Disability rating.
Then the rating gets converted to dollars. The conversion uses a weekly PD rate (around $290 in 2026 for most ratings) multiplied by a number of weeks set by the rating percentage.
Examples:
- 10 percent PD: about $9,000
- 25 percent PD: about $30,000 to $35,000
- 50 percent PD: about $100,000 to $115,000
- 70 percent PD: starts to qualify for a life pension on top of the base award
- 100 percent PD: total permanent disability, with payments for life
These numbers move with the year of injury and the specific calculations in each case. Treat them as illustrative.
Lump-Sum Settlements
Most cases close one of two ways:
- Stipulated Award: the carrier admits the PD rating, pays it out over time, and stays on the hook for future medical care related to the injury
- Compromise and Release (C&R): a lump-sum buyout. You take a single payment and waive future medical for the injury. The carrier likes C&Rs because it closes the file. C&R numbers are typically higher than stipulated awards because they include estimated future medical costs
Real-World LA Settlement Examples
These are ranges from cases we have handled, with details changed:
- Hotel housekeeper, back injury, 18 percent PD, ongoing PT: settled C&R around $65,000
- Warehouse worker, shoulder surgery, 25 percent PD: stipulated award around $45,000 plus open future medical
- Restaurant cook, repetitive carpal tunnel, both wrists, 30 percent PD: C&R around $95,000
- Construction laborer, herniated discs, two surgeries, 55 percent PD: C&R around $250,000
- Truck driver, herniated discs plus third-party motor vehicle accident: workers' comp around $80,000, civil case around $750,000
What Drives the Number Up
- Higher AWW (no cap-related leakage)
- Surgery, not conservative care
- Strong, specific medical reporting tying restrictions to work demands
- Multiple body parts injured
- Add-on psychiatric injury where supported
- Inability to return to your usual occupation
- A capable third-party case running in parallel
What Drives the Number Down
- Pre-existing conditions the QME apportions to non-work causes
- Treatment gaps and missed appointments
- Conflicting statements about how the injury happened
- An MPN doctor with a track record of low ratings
- Returning to your same job quickly
Hurt on the job in Los Angeles? Talk to a real workers' comp attorney. Free, confidential, in English, Español, or Հայերեն. Call (747) 777-5977 or send a message.