“My settlement was $60,000. My check was $38,000.”

The five

1 — Permanent disabilityPD Permanent Disability. Compensation for lasting impairment. A different and much lower weekly rate — 2026 maximum $290/week. already advanced. If the carrier paid permanent disability while the case was pending, that comes off the total as a credit. It is not a deduction; you already received it. This is the largest single surprise and it is almost always legitimate.

2 — Attorney’s fee. Approved by the judge, and in California workers’ compensation it is typically 9% to 15% — commonly 15% in a contested case. The law requires judicial approval; the lawyer does not set it unilaterally. What a lawyer costs.

3 — Liens. Medical treatment liens, EDD reimbursement for State Disability you received, Medi-Cal, and in some cases child support arrears. These are resolved as part of the case. Many are negotiated down substantially, and many are barred outright for late filing. How liens work.

4 — A Medicare Set-AsideMSA — Medicare Set-Aside Funds allocated for future injury-related care where Medicare’s interest is involved. CMS reviews above $25,000 for current beneficiaries, or $250,000 with enrollment expected within 30 months.. If one applies, that amount is carved out — it is still your money, restricted to injury-related treatment. When this applies.

5 — Medical-legal costs. QMEQME Qualified Medical Evaluator. A state-certified physician who resolves disputes. Unrepresented workers get a panel of three by random draw. and AMEAME Agreed Medical Evaluator. A physician both sides agree on. Available only to represented workers, and practically very hard to move away from. report fees, deposition costs, interpreter fees. Usually the carrier’s responsibility, but check where they landed.

Ask for it before you sign

“Show me the net.” A one-page breakdown: gross settlement, less advances, less fee, less each lien by name, less any set-aside, equals what arrives.

A lawyer who will not produce that page is telling you something. So is a settlement conference where nobody mentions the advances until afterward.

What is not deducted

Taxes. Workers’ compensation benefits are generally not taxable income, and nothing is withheld. The exception: if you also receive Social Security disability, the part of your workers’ compensation that reduces it can be taxable. Taxes.

When the number itself was wrong

Separate from the deductions — sometimes the settlement figure was low to begin with.

A permanent disability rating you never checked. The occupational group on your rating stringRating string The row of numbers encoding your entire permanent disability calculation. Checkable arithmetic. is assigned by actual duties, not job title, and correcting it moves the number. Decode your rating string.

A life pensionLife pension Payable at 70%–99% after the PD award is exhausted. § 4659(a): 1.5% of average weekly earnings per point above 60 — with earnings capped at $515.38 since 2006. nobody mentioned. At 70% and above there is a weekly payment for life, escalating annually, in addition to the permanent disability award. It is routinely left out of settlement discussions and is frequently worth more over a lifetime than the award itself. Check whether you’re owed one.

A voucher and a supplement. The $6,000 job displacement voucher and the separate $5,000 return-to-work supplement are additional, not included. The voucher. · The $5,000.

A third-party case. If someone other than your employer contributed to the injury — a contractor, a driver, a property owner, an equipment manufacturer — that is a separate case, it pays pain and suffering, and it is not capped the way comp is. When one exists.

If it is already signed

An approved settlement is hard but not always impossible to undo. There is a 20-day window to petition for reconsiderationPetition for Reconsideration Appeal from a final order. 20 days. A non-final order takes a Petition for Removal instead. of the approving order, and the Appeals Board retains jurisdiction in defined circumstances. Both of those are time-sensitive. If you’ve already settled.