Calif. Permanently Disabled Return-to-Work Rates Up 5%

California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has released return-to-work rate information on permanently disabled workers that shows a more than five percent average increase in return-to-work rates for workers injured between Jan. 1, 2005 and Jun. 30, 2005, in comparison to workers injured prior to Jan. 1, 2005.

“Employees with back and knee injuries, which are very common in workers’ comp, are getting back to work at even higher rates than the average,” said DWC acting Administrative Director Carrie Nevans. “These early indicators show more employees are returning to the workforce after proper treatment for their injuries, and that’s a move in the right direction.”

The DWC will hold two public forums to discuss the return-to-work data. The forums will include information on the analysis, the permanent disability rating schedule (PDRS) and upcoming further analysis of the PDRS. The public forums on the return-to-work data will be held:

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007, in Los Angeles
1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Junipero Serra State Building auditorium
320 West 4th Street
Los Angeles CA 90013

Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007, in San Francisco
1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Milton Marks Conference Center auditorium
455 Golden Gate Avenue, lower level
San Francisco CA 94102

The return-to-work data being released represents the first phase of the division’s plan to analyze the effect of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule. The second phase, expected to be completed by March, will include an examination of three-year wage loss information for workers injured between Jan. 1, 2003 and Jun. 30, 2003. This information will be correlated with the return-to-work rates and indemnity payments from that period to provide information on how much uncompensated wage loss there was under the 1997 PDRS. This uncompensated wage loss will then be compared to the 2005 schedule.

A second set of public forums will be scheduled to discuss the three-year wage loss data once that information is released.

For more information on the data, visit: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/ReturnToWorkRates/ReturnToWorkRates.htm.

Source: DWC