California workers' comp is not just a check after an injury. It is a package of benefits: medical care, wage replacement during recovery, money for permanent impairment, retraining, and death benefits if the worst happens. Here is how each piece works.
1. Medical Treatment
Every accepted claim covers reasonable and necessary medical care related to the injury, with no co-pays, no deductibles, and no out-of-pocket cost to you. That includes doctor visits, surgery, physical therapy, prescriptions, durable medical equipment, mileage to and from appointments, and in many cases mental health treatment connected to the physical injury.
The carrier does not get to deny care because it costs too much. Treatment must follow the state's Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS), but anything within those evidence-based guidelines should be authorized.
2. Temporary Disability (TD) Payments
If your doctor takes you off work or puts you on restrictions your employer cannot accommodate, you receive temporary disability payments to replace lost wages while you recover.
- Rate: Two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a state maximum that adjusts each year
- Duration: Up to 104 weeks of payments within five years of the injury date (longer for certain serious injuries like severe burns, amputations, or chronic lung disease)
- Waiting period: First three days unpaid unless you are hospitalized or off work more than 14 days
TD is not taxed. The check usually comes every two weeks from the insurance carrier, not the employer.
3. Permanent Disability (PD)
When you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), the point at which your condition is not going to get materially better, your doctor assigns a permanent impairment rating. That number gets converted into a permanent disability percentage, and that percentage drives a dollar amount.
Example: a 25 percent PD rating for a worker injured in 2026 can translate to roughly $30,000 to $40,000 in benefits, depending on age, occupation, and the specific weekly PD rate that applied at the time of injury.
PD is paid out every two weeks at a fixed weekly rate until the total is exhausted, unless settled in a lump sum.
4. Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit (SJDB)
If your employer cannot offer you regular, modified, or alternative work within 60 days of your doctor declaring you permanent and stationary, you qualify for a $6,000 voucher.
The voucher pays for:
- Tuition at a state-approved school
- Books and tools
- Computer equipment up to $1,000
- Vocational counseling up to $600
The voucher expires two years after it is issued, or five years after the injury date, whichever is later.
5. Return-to-Work Supplement
An additional one-time $5,000 payment for workers who receive the SJDB voucher, funded through the state's Return-to-Work Supplement Program. Application is through the Department of Industrial Relations.
6. Death Benefits
If a work injury results in death, dependents receive:
- Burial expenses up to $10,000
- Lump-sum payments based on the number of total and partial dependents ($250,000 for one total dependent, up to $320,000 for three or more)
- Payments made at the temporary disability rate over several years
7. Mileage Reimbursement
Every mile you drive to a medical appointment, pharmacy, or required evaluation is reimbursable at the state mileage rate (66 cents per mile in 2026, adjusted annually). Most workers do not track this. They should. Over the life of a serious claim, the mileage total can be in the thousands.
What Is Not Covered
- Pain and suffering (workers' comp is a no-fault system; pain and suffering damages exist only in third-party cases)
- Punitive damages
- The full amount of your lost wages (only two-thirds, capped)
- Loss of consortium for your spouse
If your injury was caused partly by someone other than your employer (a defective product, a negligent driver, a contractor on a multi-employer worksite), you may have a separate third-party personal injury case running alongside the comp claim. That is where the larger damages can live.
How They All Stack
A typical serious case might look like this: the carrier covers your surgery and PT (medical), pays you two-thirds of your wages for six months (TD), assigns a 22 percent rating at MMI worth around $25,000 (PD), issues a $6,000 voucher because your old job cannot accommodate (SJDB), and you collect another $5,000 from the state return-to-work program. None of it is taxed.
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.