1. Generally, workers’ compensation
is the “exclusive remedy” for employees who suffer work-related injury or
illness.
2. To establish
a claim for workers’ compensation, the employer’s fault must be established as a
threshold element.
3. Counties,
cities and other political subdivisions need not be insured for workers’ compensation
liability or secure a certificate of consent to self-insure from the Department of
Industrial Relations.
4. A person
injured while volunteering services in a law office without pay or benefits would be
entitled to collect workers’ compensation benefits.
5. An employee
who is injured while participating in a weekend walk to benefit cancer victims will be
entitled to collect workers’ compensation benefits.
6. An employee
with an accepted or compensable workers’ compensation claim will not be able to
obtain temporary disability payments if he returns full-time to a light duty job provided
by the employer.
7. Permanent
disability payments are not payable if there is partial residual disability resulting from
the work-related injury which would create a handicap in the open labor market, but the
employer provides a modified full-time job.
8. An employee
with an accepted work-related injury who is unable to continue working in the usual and
customary occupation engaged in at the time of injury is entitled to vocational
rehabilitation services, which may include counseling fees, training costs and a weekly
maintenance allowance up to a maximum of $16,000.
9. An employee
may not select a treating physician in advance of a work-related injury, but once an
injury occurs, the employee maintains total control of selecting the treating physician.
10. There are
deductibles the employee must pay for medical treatment and ceilings on treatment costs,
beyond which the employee’s medical plan must assume payment.
11. An employer
has complied with the law if its supervisor immediately mails a claim form and notice of
potential eligibility to an employee calling to report feeling overwhelmed and unable to
work because of work pressures.
12. An employee’s
claim will be presumed compensable, even if the injury occurred at home, if the employer
fails to deny liability within 90 days after filing of the employee claim form with the
employer.
13. An employer
may persuade an employee pursuing a claim without counsel to resolve medical disputes by
using an Agreed Medical Examiner.
14. To commence
a proceeding before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB), an Application
for Adjudication of Claim must be filed.
15. An employer
who remembers five days before trial that it is in possession of their company’s
pre-employment medical questionnaire, showing the employee disclosed that he obtained
treatment of his back prior to employment, and attempts to have the trial continued for
further discovery and development of the medical record will likely have the request
denied, and the records will likely be deemed inadmissible.
16. At trials
or hearings before the WCAB, the parties are not bound by the rules of evidence.
17. The burden
of proof is always on the employee pursuing his or her claim for benefits.
18. A party
aggrieved by a final order, decision or award made by the WCAB must file a Petition for
Reconsideration within 30 days from the date of service of the decision.
19. One of the
bases which may support a Petition for Reconsidera-tion is that the employee was
represented by ineffective counsel during trial.
20. Following
denial of a Petition for Reconsideration, a petition for trial de novo must be filed with
the local Superior Court to preserve the right of appeal.
CERTIFICATION
 This activity has been approved for
Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of
1 hour.
The State Bar of California certifies
that this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed
by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing minimum continuing
legal education. |
