A California workers’ comp settlement chart converts your permanent disability (PD) rating into a dollar range by multiplying statutory indemnity weeks by your weekly rate, capped at $290 per week for injuries on or after January 1, 2013.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 4658 A 10 percent rating produces 30.25 weeks (up to $8,773). A 50 percent rating produces 271.25 weeks (up to $78,663). Ratings of 70 percent and above add a life pension on top. The numbers below show the ceiling for each common PD rating, and the sections after explain why your actual check may land higher or lower.
Settlement Values by Permanent Disability Rating
These figures come from Labor Code 4658 and assume the maximum $290 weekly rate:1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 4658
- 5% PD — 15 weeks — up to $4,350
- 10% PD — 30.25 weeks — up to $8,773
- 15% PD — 50.5 weeks — up to $14,645
- 20% PD — 75.5 weeks — up to $21,895
- 25% PD — 100.75 weeks — up to $29,218
- 30% PD — 131 weeks — up to $37,990
- 40% PD — 201 weeks — up to $58,290
- 50% PD — 271.25 weeks — up to $78,663
- 60% PD — 351.25 weeks — up to $101,863
- 70% PD — 433.25 weeks — up to $125,643, plus life pension
- 80% PD — 593.25 weeks — up to $172,043, plus life pension
- 90% PD — 753.25 weeks — up to $218,443, plus life pension
These are permanent disability indemnity totals only. They do not include medical costs already paid, temporary disability benefits received while you were recovering, or the value of future medical care, which often gets added into a lump-sum settlement.
Why the Chart Isn’t Linear
Doubling your rating more than doubles your payout, because the state assigns more indemnity weeks per percentage point as the disability grows worse. The brackets stack like tax brackets:
- 0.25–9.75% PD: 3 weeks per 1 percent
- 10–14.75% PD: 4 weeks per 1 percent
- 15–24.75% PD: 5 weeks per 1 percent
- 25–29.75% PD: 6 weeks per 1 percent
- 30–49.75% PD: 7 weeks per 1 percent
- 50–69.75% PD: 8 weeks per 1 percent
- 70–99.75% PD: 16 weeks per 1 percent
Take a 25 percent rating. The first 9.75 points earn 3 weeks each (29.25 weeks). The next 5 points earn 4 weeks each (20 weeks). The next 10 points earn 5 weeks each (50 weeks). The final 0.25 point earns 1.5 weeks. Total: 100.75 weeks. At $290, that comes to $29,217.50 in permanent disability indemnity.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 4658
When Your Weekly Rate Is Below $290
The chart assumes you hit the statutory maximum. Permanent partial disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wages up to the $290 cap, so if you earned less than roughly $435 per week before the injury, your weekly rate drops proportionally. Part-time workers and low-wage workers see smaller totals than the chart suggests. The number of weeks does not change, only the dollar value of each week.
The 70 Percent Line and the Life Pension
Workers rated between 70 and 99.75 percent receive a life pension after the standard indemnity weeks run out. Payments continue for the rest of the worker’s life, and the weekly pension amount rises with the severity of the rating. A 100 percent total disability rating pays at the temporary total disability rate for life under Labor Code 4659, which is substantially higher than the $290 permanent partial cap.
That makes the jump from 69 to 70 percent one of the most valuable single points in the entire system. A worker at 69 percent collects standard indemnity and stops. A worker at 70 percent collects indemnity plus decades of pension payments. Ratings near this boundary routinely drive the hardest fights in settlement negotiations.
Lump Sum vs. Payments Over Time
The chart values describe indemnity paid out week by week under a Stipulated Findings and Award, where the insurance company also stays responsible for your future medical care related to the injury. Treatment keeps flowing through the carrier, and your weekly checks arrive on schedule until the total runs out.
A Compromise and Release works differently. You take a single lump sum and close out the whole claim, including future medical care. Because you are giving up ongoing treatment, the lump sum typically runs higher than the raw indemnity number in the chart. The extra dollars are meant to cover the estimated cost of care you will now pay yourself. Both settlement types must be approved by a Workers’ Compensation Administrative Law Judge.2Division of Workers’ Compensation. How Is My Case Resolved
The tradeoff is real. A Compromise and Release gives you finality and control over a large check. If your condition worsens in five years, you pay for the surgery. A Stipulated Findings and Award keeps the medical safety net open but ties you to the insurer for treatment approvals. Running a careful estimate of future medical costs before signing a Compromise and Release is standard practice.
What Comes Out of the Settlement
The chart figure is not the amount that lands in your bank account. Several things reduce it or shift its value.
Attorney Fees
California workers’ compensation attorney fees must be approved by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and typically run 15 percent of the permanent disability indemnity award. Fees come out of your benefit, not on top of it. On a $29,218 indemnity for a 25 percent rating, a 15 percent fee leaves you with roughly $24,835. In a Compromise and Release, the fee is negotiated as part of the total package and sometimes applies only to the indemnity portion rather than the money allocated for future medical care. Confirm the fee base before signing.
Social Security Disability Offset
If you collect SSDI at the same time as workers’ comp, the Social Security Administration reduces your SSDI check so the combined total stays within 80 percent of your average current earnings before the disability. The reduction hits SSDI, not your workers’ comp, but the net effect on your household income is the same. A lump-sum Compromise and Release can sometimes be structured or allocated across a longer period to soften the offset. Ignoring this calculation is one of the most expensive mistakes workers make, because a generous-looking lump sum can trigger years of shrunken SSDI checks.
Medicare Set-Aside
If you are already on Medicare or expect to enroll within 30 months, part of your settlement may need to be set aside in a separate account for future injury-related medical costs. CMS reviews proposed set-asides when a current Medicare beneficiary’s settlement exceeds $25,000, or when a near-eligible claimant’s settlement exceeds $250,000.3Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside Arrangements Even below those thresholds, parties are still expected to protect Medicare’s interests, and carriers must report settlements involving Medicare beneficiaries under Section 111 reporting rules.4Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Mandatory Insurer Reporting (NGHP) A mishandled set-aside can leave Medicare refusing to pay for your injury-related care until the set-aside amount is exhausted.
Taxes
Workers’ compensation benefits are not subject to federal income tax, whether paid weekly or as a lump sum. The exemption sits in Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(1). You will not get a W-2 or 1099 for the money, and it does not go on your return. The one wrinkle is that if you also collect SSDI, the offset can shift how much of the SSDI side becomes taxable, even though the workers’ comp dollars stay tax-free.
How to Read Your Own Number
Find your final PD percentage on the rating report, locate it on the chart, and treat the dollar figure as a ceiling for the pure indemnity portion. Then adjust: lower your weekly rate if you earned under $435 per week, add value for future medical care if you are heading toward a Compromise and Release, subtract roughly 15 percent for attorney fees, and factor in the SSDI offset or any Medicare set-aside that applies to your situation. The chart gives you the anchor. The adjustments give you the real number.