Workers’ compensation is insurance provided to California workers who have been seriously injured on the job performing their normal job functions. Workers Compensation benefits can include wage replacement income, rehabilitation and medical coverage and death benefits to surviving beneficiaries of workers who have been killed on the job.

Workers compensation benefits are mandated under state law for some employers and are provided as a right to the employee. California work comp benefits are not contingent on you, the employee, proving that your employer’s negligence caused or contributed to your work injury. You and/or your dependents or survivors, in turn, cannot sue your employer for additional damages after a work injury but generally must accept compensation in the form or work comp benefits.

How do I change doctors in California Work Comp case?

Under California law, if you are injured or become ill as a result of your job, you are required to see a doctor who has been selected by your employer. The exception to this is if you have properly pre-designated a “personal physician.” The designation must be done in writing before your California work injury or illness occurs and your employer must be providing group health insurance.

A question that may concern you is, “Under California workers’ compensation laws, am I allowed to change doctors? If I do change doctors is my employer responsible for paying that doctor?”

Your employer’s medical control varies according to the medical delivery model. If it is a traditional model, it is 30 days. If it is health care organization (HCO), it is 90 or 180 days. If it is a medical provider network (MPN), it is the life of the claim. If you have pre-designated a personal physician it is 0 days.

Under the traditional model, if you want to change doctors before the 30 days of employer medical control expires, you are allowed to do so if you notify the claims administrator. The claims administrator will then give you a list of doctors to choose from. In most instances, you are required to choose a doctor who is within your employer’s medical provider network (MPN).

If you decide to change physicians, your employer is responsible for paying that doctor. However, you need to know that not every physician that is listed in your employer’s MPN may be accepting new workers’ compensation cases or seeing new patients. You should call the doctor and make sure that they will take you and your case before making the change to that physician.

Hiring a Work Compensation Lawyer

California workers’ compensation law is complicated, but you are at the right place. The employment attorneys at www.usworkerscomp.com can review your California work comp case and answer your questions. Fill out the FREE evaluation form if you would like a work comp lawyer’s office to contact you about your work comp claim in California.

Workers’ compensation coverage is provided by California employers who are injured while performing their normal job function or who are disabled due to an occupational illness or disease. According to California workers’ compensation laws and the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) who monitors the administration of California workers’ compensation claims, and provides administrative and judicial services to assist California employees, employers are required to have workers’ compensation insurance if they have even one employee (some exceptions may exist).

The goal of workers’ compensation or workman’s compensation is to provide immediate relief to workers who are injured in a work-related accident without the employees having to file a personal injury claim and forcing their employer to pay lost wage compensation or for their medical expenses. Employees are limited, under California workers compensation law, in the amount of compensation they can recover from their employer but the trade-off is the employer must pay for necessary and reasonable medical care and in some cases for lost wages without the employee proving the employer was negligent.

California employers who fail to carry workers’ compensation coverage may be charged with a criminal offense. According to Section 3700.5 of the California Code “it is a misdemeanor punishable by either a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, or both”. The state can also issue penalties up to $100,000 against illegally uninsured employers.

Work Injuries Covered Under California Workers’ Compensation

In most cases, workers’ compensation will only cover work injuries which arise “out of and in the course of employment”. If you are injured while performing an activity directly related to your job, you should be eligible for worker’s compensation. California employees who are on are injured on a business trip must be engaged in activities required for their job. Workers also may not be covered if they are voluntarily participating in an employee sponsored recreational event, if their injuries are self-inflicted, if they were engaged in horseplay with a co-worker or if they were intoxicated and injured on the job.

Common illnesses and work injuries that are generally covered if they occur while engaged in normal business activities or functions can include:

• Back injuries
• Concussions
• Abrasions
• Burns
• Amputations of legs, arms, fingers or toes
• Cancer from a certain chemical or toxin
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Carpel Tunnel Syndrome
• Post traumatic stress disorder

California Worker’s Compensation Benefits

There is a three calendar day waiting period before injured employees will receive wage benefits. The three days do not have to be consecutive. If the employee is hospitalized, the injury resulted from a criminal act of violence or if the work injury extends more than 14 calendar days and is unable to return to work the waiting period is waived. The waiting period may also be waived for California employees who meet certain requirements as stated under the California Labor Code Section 4800 and 4800.5.

California workers injured on the job may be entitled to lost wage compensation and paid medical expenses.

• Medical Benefits

California workers’ compensation laws entitled injured employees to payment or compensation for all necessary and reasonable medical care. Common paid medical benefits can include costs for visiting the hospital, surgeries, medications, dental treatment, and medical supplies. Pain and suffering is not compensated by the employer. California workers’ compensation laws allow the employer to make the initial selection for the employee’s doctor. The employee will, after a specified time (generally 30 days), be able to choose their own physician unless the employer or the insurance company has previously established a medical provider network. If the California employer has a medical provider network the employee must see a physician from a specified selection of physicians for the duration of the workers’ compensation claim.

• Temporary Disability

Temporary disability benefits may also be paid to California workers who are injured on the job. Temporary disability is generally calculated as 2/3 of the employee’s gross wages at the time of their work injury. There are maximums and minimum amounts that are paid as outlined under California workers’ compensation law. Workers who are working two jobs at the time of injury may also be compensated for the lost income from the second job.
Temporary disability is paid when the treating physician decides that the employee is unable to work more than 3 days or they have been required to stay in the hospital overnight. Temporary disability will end when the doctor determines the employee has reached their maximum health (given their injury) or they are deemed able to return to work.

• Permanent Disability

Many work-related injuries will result in permanent disabilities or the inability to work at all. To determine permanent disability compensation the treating physician will determine the degree of the employee’s impairment. The impairment is rated according to a pre-determined schedule and the functional loss (as it applies to work related tasks). The workers’ compensation claims administrator will assign a permanent disability rating by reviewing the physician’s report. The assigned rating may be challenged and a review may be requested from another state disability rater, a workers’ compensation judge, or the director of The State Division of Worker’s Compensation. Workers compensation permanent disability payments are calculated using this rating, and the employee’s wages prior to the injury to determine the total amount of permanent disability compensation for the worker’s disability.

• Vocational Rehabilitation

Injured California workers who suffer an injury at work may also be eligible to receive vocational rehabilitation training. This service is provided through the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Vocational Rehabilitation Unit and local community colleges. Injured employees who are injured for 90 days may be eligible for these services. These services are optional.

• Death benefits

If a California worker dies from their work-related injury their dependents may be entitled to compensation through death benefits. Death benefits may include lost wages compensation and paid burial expenses up to a maximum outlined in California state law.

Do I Need a California Worker’s Compensation Attorney?

Unfortunately, workers in California are injured on the job everyday. Some claims are handled smoothly and easily while others may not. If you have been severed injured or have suffered permanent disability and are unable to work again, it may be a good idea to discuss your California workers compensation case with a workers compensation attorney. Workers compensation lawyers have the experience to fight the insurance companies and ensure that they do not limit or deny workers’ compensation benefits to injured employees.

Workplace safety in California is an issue that you should be interested in if you work in this state. You probably spend at least 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week or more in your California workplace. This may be the greatest reason why workplace safety in California is so vitally important.

The workplace has changed from what it was a generation ago. A manufacturer’s moving materials or production lines used to be the primary concern. This would take place in a shipping, receiving or storage area of a building. Repetitive action or motion was what businesses depended on to produce a product.

The workplace of today is far more than an assembly line. The workplace of today is not just stationary. It now involves the streets and highways that crisscross the United States.

This is certainly true in California. In California, your workplace can be in an office or a building, or it can also be on the streets and highways of this diverse state.

What is meant by a workplace in California? How is it defined? A workplace is by definition, “a place where commerce is conducted.” Your workplace is anywhere work is carried on. This means a motor vehicle, as well as a building or an office can be your workplace.

What, does workplace safety in California mean? It refers to the working environment at the place where you work. Workplace safety takes in all of the factors that impact your safety, health and well being while you work.

Workplace safety in California includes many things. It includes:

§  Workplace violence

§  Environmental hazards

§  Unsafe working conditions or processes,

§  Drug and alcohol.

Workplace safety is overseen at the national level by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The cornerstone of OSHA’s policies and regulations are seen in its three stated goals.

• Change workplace culture to increase employer and worker awareness of, commitment to and involvement in safety and health

• Improve the safety and health for all workers, as evidenced by fewer hazards, reduced exposures, and fewer injuries, illnesses and fatalities
• Secure public confidence through excellence in the development and delivery of OSHA’s programs and services.

The federal guidelines of OSHA are complemented by state regulations in California. In California, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) complements the federal guidelines of OSHA. The DIR’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA, maintains and enforces safety and health standards in the workplace and performs outreach events for both employers and employees. They also provide safety publication material for workers, employees, parents, and other organizations.

In Texas, these regulations are aimed at promoting the health and safety of California workers in the workplace. California workplace regulations are aimed at providing California workers with a workplace that is free of all types of workplace or workplace-created toxic hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Is workplace safety an important issue in California? What can be done to improve and enhance workplace safety? These are all important questions regarding workplace safety in California.

Workplace safety in California is an issue of vital importance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only Texas had more workplace deaths than California. In 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, workplace deaths in California rose to over 500.

The importance of workplace safety in California can also be seen not only in the direct costs of illness and injury in the workplace, but also in the indirect costs of an accident that take into effect the sometimes immeasurable costs of lost efficiency and production on a company-wide basis. Some of these costs are:

• Overtime to make up for loss of production

• Wages for lost time of uninjured workers

• Replacement or repair of damaged equipment or materials.
• Training replacement workers.

Workplace safety in California is important because in order for you to do your job well, you need to feel comfortable and safe. Your production will be affected if you feel threatened, anxious, worried or unsafe in your California workplace.

Workplace safety in California is also important because it affects more than just the injured. Friends and family of the injured worker are also affected. A death or debilitating injury or in the workplace can have a devastating affect on family and friends.

The most important resource an employer has is human resource. The importance of workplace safety in California can also be seen in the loss of a worker either temporarily or permanently.

Given the overwhelming importance of workplace safety in California, what can be done to make the workplace safer in this state? What steps can be taken to make the workplace safer? Some steps that can be taken are:

• Safety training programs need to be set up if they are not already in place
• Safety goals need to be set up
• Safety policies and procedures should be implemented
• The formation of a safety committee
• Workplace violence has to be dealt with and eliminated
• An ongoing study and analysis of accidents should be implemented to see where the greatest risks and likelihood of accidents are so they can be prevented.

Workplace safety in California may affect you personally. You or a friend or loved one may have been injured at the workplace. You do not believe the company is doing what it is supposed to do.

What can you do? Where do you go for help? Who can you turn to?

You or your friend or loved one needs the help of a legal professional. You need the help of an attorney who knows and specializes in workers’ compensation law in California. You need a workers’ compensation attorney.