How much workers’ comp pays in California depends on your pre-injury wages, how badly you were hurt, and how long you can’t work. For injuries in 2026, temporary disability checks run from $264.61 to $1,764.11 per week.1California Department of Industrial Relations. DWC Announces Temporary Total Disability Rates for 2026 Permanent disability awards scale with a rating that can stretch payments across years, medical treatment is covered in full with no out-of-pocket cost, and a fatal workplace injury pays dependents up to $320,000. The sections below break down each benefit and what controls the dollar amount.
Temporary Disability: Your Weekly Check While You Recover
When a work injury keeps you off the job, temporary disability replaces part of your lost wages. The payment equals two-thirds of your gross average weekly earnings at the time of injury, including overtime, bonuses, and commissions.2California Department of Industrial Relations. DWC Announces Temporary Total Disability Rates for 2025 These payments are tax-free.
Every year the state sets a floor and a ceiling. For 2026 injuries, the minimum is $264.61 per week and the maximum is $1,764.11.1California Department of Industrial Relations. DWC Announces Temporary Total Disability Rates for 2026 Earn $5,000 a week before your injury and your check still tops out at the maximum. Earn very little and the minimum applies.
Payments don’t start the day you get hurt. There is a three-day waiting period after you leave work. If your disability lasts more than 14 days, or if you are hospitalized overnight, the waiting period disappears and you are paid retroactively from day one.3California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 4652 – Temporary Disability Indemnity
You can collect temporary disability for up to 104 compensable weeks, and those weeks do not have to be consecutive. The 104 weeks must fall within five years of the injury date.4California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 4656 – Disability Payments A short list of severe injuries, including serious burns and chronic lung disease, qualifies for up to 240 weeks within that same five-year window.5Division of Workers’ Compensation. Answers to Your Questions About Temporary Disability Benefits
Payments stop when you return to work, your doctor clears you to return, or your doctor decides your condition has stabilized as much as it is going to. That last point is called maximum medical improvement, and it is where your claim shifts from temporary benefits to permanent disability.
Permanent Disability: How Lasting Injuries Get Paid
If the injury leaves lasting effects, you may qualify for permanent disability. A doctor assigns a whole-person impairment percentage, which is then adjusted for your age and occupation to produce a rating from 0% to 100%. A warehouse worker and a desk worker with the same back impairment will often rate differently, because the injury hits their earning capacity differently.
Your rating determines two things: how many weeks you get paid and how much each weekly check is worth. The weekly amount is two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly earnings, subject to its own annual minimums and maximums. The number of weeks per rating point climbs with severity:
- 0.25% to 9.75%: 3 weeks per percentage point
- 10% to 14.75%: 4 weeks per point
- 15% to 24.75%: 5 weeks per point
- 25% to 29.75%: 6 weeks per point
- 30% to 49.75%: 7 weeks per point
- 50% to 69.75%: 8 weeks per point
- 70% to 99.75%: 16 weeks per point
The tiers stack. A worker rated at 20% does not get 5 weeks for every one of the 20 points. They get 3 weeks per point for the first 9.75%, 4 weeks per point from 10% to 14.75%, and 5 weeks per point from 15% to 20%.6California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 4658 – Permanent Disability Indemnity At 100%, meaning total permanent disability, payments continue for life.
Medical Care: Fully Covered, No Cap
Medical treatment is the one benefit with no dollar limit. The employer’s insurance carrier pays for all treatment reasonably needed to address your work injury.7Division of Workers’ Compensation. Division of Workers’ Compensation – Medical Care You should never see a bill, a co-pay, or a deductible. If a provider knows the injury is work-related and a claim has been filed, billing you directly is illegal, and the provider can be held liable for triple the amount collected.8California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 3751 – Compensation Insurance and Security
Covered care includes doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, physical therapy, prescriptions, and medical equipment such as braces or wheelchairs. Mileage to and from appointments is reimbursable.7Division of Workers’ Compensation. Division of Workers’ Compensation – Medical Care For injuries from 2004 onward, chiropractic, physical therapy, and occupational therapy visits are each capped at 24 per injury unless the claims administrator approves more in writing.9Division of Workers’ Compensation. A Guidebook for Injured Workers
The $6,000 Job Displacement Voucher
If your injury causes permanent partial disability and your employer cannot offer you a suitable job within 60 days of the doctor’s report, you are entitled to a $6,000 supplemental job displacement voucher.10California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 4658.7 – Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit The voucher pays for tuition and fees at California public schools or approved training providers, licensing and certification exams, job placement services, and tools or equipment needed for training. Up to 10% can go toward career counseling and resume help. The voucher is separate from your disability checks and is often overlooked. If you have any permanent partial disability and received no return-to-work offer, ask about it.
Death Benefits When a Work Injury Is Fatal
When a workplace injury kills a worker, the dependents receive a lump-sum death benefit based on how many survive:
- One total dependent, no partial dependents: $250,000
- Two total dependents: $290,000
- Three or more total dependents: $320,000
Partial dependents who received some financial support may collect additional amounts calculated as a multiple of the annual support they received, but total benefits are capped at $290,000 when there are two total dependents or $250,000 when there are no total dependents. If the worker left no dependents at all, $250,000 goes to the estate.11California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 4702 – Death Benefits The insurer also pays up to $10,000 for reasonable burial costs. Death benefits are paid in installments at the same rate the worker’s temporary total disability would have been, with a minimum weekly payment of $224.
Settlements: Lump Sum or Installments
Most claims end in a settlement rather than a judge’s decision, and the type you accept affects what you keep.
A Compromise and Release is a lump-sum payment that closes the claim permanently. You take a negotiated amount, and the insurer walks away from all future responsibility for the injury, including medical care.12State of California Department of Industrial Relations. DWC Form 10214(e) – Third Party Compromise and Release You are betting the money will cover any treatment you need later. For younger workers or injuries that could worsen, that bet can go badly.
A Stipulated Findings and Award works differently. You and the insurer agree on a permanent disability rating, and the award is paid in biweekly installments over the number of weeks the rating dictates. This type of settlement typically keeps your right to future medical care open, so if your condition deteriorates years later, the insurer still has to pay for treatment.
If you are a Medicare beneficiary, part of your settlement may need to be set aside to cover future injury-related medical costs that Medicare would otherwise pay. Submitting a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside arrangement for review is strongly recommended, even though it is not legally required, to avoid jeopardizing your Medicare coverage.13Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside Arrangements
Taxes and the SSDI Offset
Workers’ compensation benefits are exempt from federal and state income tax. Weekly payments, lump-sum settlements, and permanent disability awards are all tax-free, and you do not receive a W-2 or 1099 for them.14Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income
One exception catches people off guard. If you also receive Social Security Disability Insurance, federal law caps your combined benefits at 80% of your average current earnings before you became disabled.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 424a – Reduction of Disability Benefits When the total goes over, Social Security reduces your SSDI check to bring you back under the cap. Your workers’ comp payment itself does not change, but the offset portion of your SSDI can become partially taxable. If you collect both, understand this interaction before signing a settlement, because a Compromise and Release can be structured to soften the offset’s impact.
Deadlines That Can Erase Every Benefit Above
None of these numbers matter if you miss the reporting windows. You have 30 days after a workplace injury to give your employer written notice.16California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 5400 – Limitations of Proceedings You then have one year from the date of injury to file a formal workers’ compensation claim.17California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 5405 – Limitations of Proceedings The one-year clock can also run from the date of your last benefit payment or your last medical treatment, whichever is latest. If you think your injury is work-related, report it in writing right away. Late reporting is the easiest way to lose everything you would otherwise collect.