“They keep pressuring me to come back.”

Get the restrictions in writing, specifically

Pounds. Hours. Positions. Frequencies. Surfaces. Equipment.

“Light duty” is not a restriction and it is where most of this trouble comes from — the employer reads it one way, you read it another, and nobody wrote anything down.

Give the physician your actual job description, with weights and frequencies. If the employer has a written one, get it. If not, write your own and be specific.

If a modified job is offered

Get the offer in writing, with the actual duties.

Compare it to your restrictions line by line.

If it fits, try it — and document what happens. A documented failed attempt is far more persuasive than a prediction.

If it does not fit, say so in writing, specifically: “The offer requires lifting 40 pounds; my restriction is 15.” Not “I can’t do it.”

Report any flare-up immediately, in writing, the same day. An undocumented flare-up did not happen as far as the record is concerned.

What is actually at stake

An employer’s offer of regular, modified, or alternative work within 60 days of your condition becoming permanent and stationaryP&S / MMI Permanent and Stationary / Maximum Medical Improvement. Your condition has plateaued — not that you are healed. Temporary disability ends here. can reduce permanent disabilityPD Permanent Disability. Compensation for lasting impairment. A different and much lower weekly rate — 2026 maximum $290/week. payments by 15% — but only for injuries between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2012, and only where the employer has 50 or more employees; for a 2013-or-later date of injuryDate of injury For a cumulative or occupational disease claim, the law sets it as when you first suffered disability and knew or should have known it was work-related — not when the wear began. Almost every deadline runs off this., § 4658(e) has no such adjustment. Not being offered it generally entitles you to the job displacement voucher. How.

Working reduced hours may entitle you to temporary partial disability — two-thirds of the difference — which is frequently not paid because nobody calculates it. More.

Where pressure crosses a line

Threats of termination for filing a claim violate § 132a — and FEHA separately requires reasonable accommodation and a good faith interactive process, with no $10,000 cap. Firing instead of accommodating is a FEHA violation. Both routes.

Immigration threats are unlawful retaliation. More.

And pressure to work outside your restrictions, where the employer knows the risk, is the fact pattern § 4553 was written for — one-half more, paid by the employer personally, twelve-month deadline. How.