Q: I was hurt in 2015 and currently work under modified duty for my Employer. Do the 104 weeks of Worker's Comp apply to me

A: The 104-week limit on TEmporary Disability Indemnity apply to everyone. That said, your question indicates you have been working and not temporarily totally disabled. Therefore the 104-week 'clock' has not yet begun to 'tick', so to speak. The 104-week clock starts when you are issued your first Temporary Total Disability indemnity check by the workers comp insurer, yes even if you return to modified duty at some point thereafter. So if you got one TTD check in January 2016, then you began modified duty work in February 2016 and continued that modified duty work for wages through to today, your 104-week period for TTD ended last January 2018. Unfair, unreasonable, but that is you Assemblywoman and State Senator and Governor. But we keep putting the same people back in office, even people hurt on the job and harmed and cheated by the law.

A: TD payments begin when your doctor says you can’t do your usual work for more than three days or you get

hospitalized overnight. Payments must be made every two weeks. Generally, TD stops when you return to

work, or when the doctor releases you for work, or says your injury has improved as much as it’s going to. If

you were injured between April 19, 2004 and Jan. 1, 2008, your TD payments won’t last more than 104 weeks from the first payment for most injuries. Those injured on or after Jan. 1, 2008 are eligible to receive

104 weeks of disability payments within a five-year period.

The five-year period is counted from the date of injury. Payments for a few long-term injuries, such as

severe burns or chronic lung disease, can go longer than 104 weeks. TD payments for these injuries can

continue for up to 240 weeks of payment within a five-year period.

You can also file a state disability insurance (SDI) claim with the Employment Development Department. You

should file this claim even if your workers’ comp case is accepted. This will allow you to get SDI payments

after the 104 weeks of TD payments if you are still too sick or hurt to go back to work. To learn more call 1-

800-480-3287 or visit their website at www.edd.ca.gov/disability.

A: TD payments end when:

• Your treating doctor says you can return to your usual job (whether or not you actually return to work);

or

• You return to your usual job or to modified or alternate work at your regular wages (or at wages

associated with a maximum limit on TTD payments); or

• You have reached a point where your condition is not improving and not getting worse (when this

happens, your condition is called “permanent and stationary”); or

• You were injured on or after January 1, 2008, and received up to 104 weeks of TD benefits within

five years from the date of injury, or you were injured sometime on or after April 19, 2004, through

December 31, 2007, and received up to 104 weeks of TD benefits within two years from the start of

payments. (Workers whose injuries involve acute and chronic hepatitis B, acute and chronic hepatitis C,

amputations, severe burns, human immunodeficiency virus, high-velocity eye injuries, chemical burns

to the eyes, pulmonary fibrosis, or chronic lung disease may receive up to 240 weeks of TD benefits

within five years from the date of injury.)

When TD payments end, the claims administrator must send you a letter explaining why the payments are

ending.