My workers' comp checks stopped

Payments stopping without explanation is one of the most common things that happens in a California claim, and it is almost always one of six things.

Before anything else: you should have received a written notice. California requires the claims administrator to send a benefit notice explaining any change in your payments. If your checks stopped and nothing arrived in the mail, that is itself a violation — and it is worth pointing out in writing, because it tends to produce a fast answer.

The six reasons

1. The doctor said you're permanent and stationary. Temporary disability ends when you reach maximum medical improvement. This is the most common reason, and it is not necessarily bad news — it means the case moves to the permanent disability phase. But it should have been explained to you.

2. You hit the 104-week cap. California generally limits temporary disability to 104 weeks within five years of the date of injury. Nine conditions listed in § 4656(c)(3) — including severe burns, amputations, and chronic lung disease — get 240 weeks instead. And § 4656(d), added by SB 1127, gives 240 weeks for a cancer covered by the § 3212.1 presumption with no five-year window at all. If you are near two years of payments, check this first.

3. The doctor released you to modified work and your employer offered it. If modified duty is available and you can do it, temporary disability generally stops or converts to a partial payment based on the wage difference.

4. The claim was denied or delayed. Sometimes the checks stop because liability was rejected and the letter has not reached you yet, or crossed in the mail. If that is what happened, start here.

5. A medical report changed the picture. A QME or treating physician report finding you able to work will stop payments — often before you have seen the report yourself. Ask for it.

6. An administrative problem. A new adjuster, a file transfer, a returned check, an address change, a bank issue. Genuinely common, and genuinely fixable in a phone call — which is why it is worth calling before assuming the worst.

What to do this week

1. Check your mail, including anything you set aside. Benefit notices look like junk.
2. Call the adjuster and ask one question in writing: under what authority did temporary disability terminate, and on what date? Put it in an email. A written question creates a written answer.
3. Ask your treating physician whether you have been declared permanent and stationary, or released to modified duty.
4. Count the weeks you were paid. If you are near 104, that is likely the answer.
5. Apply for EDD State Disability Insurance if the gap is going to last. There is a lien later, but you need income now.

If the payment was simply late

Labor Code § 4650(d) adds an automatic 10% to any late temporary or permanent disability payment. There is no requirement to prove the delay was unreasonable — it is strict liability for lateness, and it is supposed to be added without you asking for it.

It very often is not. In 2024 alone, the DWC Audit Unit cited 588 violations for late first temporary disability payments and 452 for late subsequent indemnity payments in the files it audited.

Pull your payment ledger and check the dates. This is money that is already owed and frequently unpaid.

Frequently asked questions