Managing Employee Injuries and Disability and Occupational Safety

h. Occupation of the Employee Occupation at time of injury is one of the criteria for rating a disability. Labor Code Section 4660. Rather than specifying a job title, consideration should be given to the actual duties and functions of the employee’s assignment as they existed at the time of the injury. Occupational variants are determined according to the use or importance of the part of the body injured in that occupation. Consideration is also given to the relative hazards of various jobs. Thus, the second step in the rating process is to find the occupational group number for the employee’s occupation at the time of the injury, or the group that most nearly represents the majority (51%) of the duties. Turning to the “Disability-Occupation” section, one enters the tables with the previously selected disability number, and under the occupational group number, finds the occupational variant, which will be a letter of the alphabet. The rater turns to “Standard Range of Ratings,” entering with the standard rating and finding the rating adjusted for occupation under the occupational variant letter. i. Employee’s Age Age of the employee at the time of the injury is an issue because the permanent disability rating is adjusted upward for an employee over the age of 39 and downward for an employee under 39. So, the final step is to proceed to “Variation for Age,” entering with the rating as adjusted for occupation, and under the employee’s age at the time of injury, obtaining the rating as adjusted for both occupation and age. j. Duration The adjusted permanent disability rating translates into a set number of weeks of permanent disability benefits. A base period, during which compensation is allowed on the basis of two- thirds of average weekly earnings (subject to the maximum benefits noted previously), is established, the duration of which varies according to the percentage of permanent disability. On expiration of the base period, an individual whose permanent disability is rated at least 70% but less than 100% receives compensation for life at a reduced percentage of weekly average earnings. Labor Code Section 4659. If the permanent disability is 100%, the employee receives two-thirds of average weekly wage for life up to the maximum temporary disability benefit. Labor Code Section 4659.

At the end of this chapter is a table which shows the number of weeks of benefits for various adjusted permanent disability ratings.

k. Permanent Disability (after 1-1-05) For injuries that occur after 4-30-04, and for injuries where there is no ratable medical report prior to 12-31-04, new guidelines for permanent disability will apply. These guidelines will be based upon the American Medical Association guidelines and pain will no longer be considered a factor of disability. Diminished capacity to compete in the open labor market will no longer be considered in determining permanent disability. Instead, consideration will be given to the employee’s diminished future earning capacity. Future earning capacity will be the capacity for similarly situated employees.

Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 41