# Articles Timely analysis, held to the same standard as the rest of this site: **every figure carries its statute and effective date, every quote was read from a primary source, and no piece carries a byline until an attorney has reviewed it.** When the law moves, these pages say what moved, when, and what it changes for an injured worker. --- ## Latest **2026-10-31** — [How much is my workers' comp case worth? One case, worked from the paycheck to the final check](/articles/what-is-my-workers-comp-case-worth/) **2026-10-30** — [Your employer had no workers' comp insurance? The state fund, the lawsuit, and the order that matters](/articles/employer-had-no-insurance/) **2026-10-29** — [Can you get workers' comp for stress? The rules that apply only to a psychiatric claim](/articles/psychiatric-injury-claims/) **2026-10-28** — [Stuck with the network's doctor? How the MPN works, and the ways out](/articles/your-doctor-and-the-mpn/) **2026-10-27** — [Why is the settlement check smaller? Liens and deductions, line by line](/articles/settlement-liens-and-deductions/) **2026-10-26** — [Hurt by years of work, not one day? Cumulative trauma, and the date that decides it](/articles/cumulative-trauma-claims/) **2026-10-23** — [Work restrictions, and no job to go back to? Modified duty, the voucher and your job](/articles/restrictions-modified-duty-and-your-job/) **2026-10-22** — [Settled, and it got worse? Reopening a workers' comp case](/articles/reopening-a-workers-comp-case/) **2026-10-21** — [What your permanent disability rating means, number by number](/articles/permanent-disability-rating-number-by-number/) **2026-10-20** — [Sent to a QME? From the panel to the report](/articles/qme-panel-to-report/) · [Workers' comp checks stopped? Why they end, and what comes next](/articles/workers-comp-checks-stopped/) **2026-10-12** — [Workers' comp claim denied? From the letter to the judge](/articles/workers-comp-claim-denied/) · [Treatment denied? Utilization review and IMR, step by step](/articles/treatment-denied-utilization-review/) **2026-10-11** — [The first 30 days after a work injury, clock by clock](/articles/first-30-days-after-a-work-injury/) · [Hurt while driving for work: two claims, one crash](/articles/hurt-driving-for-work/) · [Afraid to report a work injury? What the law protects](/articles/afraid-to-report-a-work-injury/) · [A workers' comp settlement offer, read line by line](/articles/reading-a-workers-comp-settlement-offer/) **2026-09-06** — [The 10% the law adds to a late check — by itself](/articles/late-payment-penalties/) **2026-09-05** — [A prior disability and a new work injury? What SB 171 changed in July 2026](/articles/sb-171-sibtf-5909/) · [The 2026 temporary disability rates, and which year's rate you get](/articles/2026-temporary-disability-rates/) · [Public safety claim not decided in 75 days? What the presumption does](/articles/75-day-presumption/) --- ## Your money, on schedule ## **[How much is my workers' comp case worth? One case, worked from the paycheck to the final check →](/articles/what-is-my-workers-comp-case-worth/)** **Nobody honest can price your case on the phone, but the number is not a mystery.** Here is how it is built, piece by piece, from one illustrative California case. ## **[Why is the settlement check smaller? Liens and deductions, line by line →](/articles/settlement-liens-and-deductions/)** **The number on the settlement is not the check.** Advances, the fee, EDD, medical liens, child support and Medicare each take a part, and each is knowable first. ## **[Workers' comp checks stopped? Why they end, and what comes next →](/articles/workers-comp-checks-stopped/)** **When temporary disability checks stop in California, the reason decides what comes next.** The notice you are owed, how the 104 weeks count, and the next check. ## **[A workers' comp settlement offer, read line by line →](/articles/reading-a-workers-comp-settlement-offer/)** **Which structure it is, how the permanent disability number is built, and what future medical is worth.** And what comes out before you are paid: the fee a judge approves, and the liens that are negotiated, not simply paid. ## **[The 10% the law adds to a late check — by itself →](/articles/late-payment-penalties/)** **The law increases any late indemnity payment 10% automatically, "without application" — and it is very frequently not added.** The schedule that defines late, the § 5814 penalty on top, the employer's 90-day exit, and the ten-minute ledger that proves all of it. ## What changed in the law ## **[A prior disability and a new work injury? What SB 171 changed in July 2026 →](/articles/sb-171-sibtf-5909/)** **SB 171 rewrote the fund that pays when an old disability and a new work injury combine.** What changed in July 2026, which claims it reaches, and what to do now. ## **[Public safety claim not decided in 75 days? What the presumption does →](/articles/75-day-presumption/)** **On a California public safety presumption claim, liability has to be rejected within 75 days of the claim form, not 90.** Who it covers, the count, what follows. --- ## Rates & money ## **[What your permanent disability rating means, number by number →](/articles/permanent-disability-rating-number-by-number/)** **Your California permanent disability rating is one line of six numbers.** What each one means, how to check it, and how the final percentage becomes money. ## **[The 2026 temporary disability rates, and which year's rate you get →](/articles/2026-temporary-disability-rates/)** **For a 2026 injury, temporary disability pays $264.61 to $1,764.11 a week.** Which year's limits apply to you, how the check is figured, and what to check on it. ## **[The mileage rate changed mid-year. Which rate does your trip earn? →](/articles/mileage-rate-mid-year/)** **California's medical mileage rate rose from 72.5 to 76 cents a mile on July 1, 2026.** Each trip earns the rate in effect the day you drove, not your injury date. ## **[A repaired rotator cuff rated zero? How the shoulder is measured, and what to check →](/articles/rotator-cuff-rates-zero/)** **California rates a repaired shoulder by the motion it has left, so a good repair can rate zero.** What that number misses, and the checks that can change it. --- ## How the system actually works ## **[Your employer had no workers' comp insurance? The state fund, the lawsuit, and the order that matters →](/articles/employer-had-no-insurance/)** **No insurance, still a claim.** A state fund pays the benefits, and a lawsuit against the employer can reach more, if the coverage is checked and the employer served in the right order. ## **[Can you get workers' comp for stress? The rules that apply only to a psychiatric claim →](/articles/psychiatric-injury-claims/)** **Stress, or a diagnosis?** California pays for a psychiatric injury caused by work, under stricter rules: work as more than half the cause, six months on the job, and a defense to answer. ## **[Stuck with the network's doctor? How the MPN works, and the ways out →](/articles/your-doctor-and-the-mpn/)** **Told which doctor you get?** A medical provider network is a list, not a doctor. After the first visit you may switch, and there are real ways out. ## **[Hurt by years of work, not one day? Cumulative trauma, and the date that decides it →](/articles/cumulative-trauma-claims/)** **No accident, just years of wear?** California covers cumulative trauma, and the claim turns on a date the law sets. It is often later than you would think. ## **[Work restrictions, and no job to go back to? Modified duty, the voucher and your job →](/articles/restrictions-modified-duty-and-your-job/)** **Restrictions after a California work injury decide what work you can be offered.** When an offer costs you the $6,000 voucher, and what protects the job. ## **[Settled, and it got worse? Reopening a workers' comp case →](/articles/reopening-a-workers-comp-case/)** **Settled a California workers' comp case and got worse?** Who can reopen it, the five years that run from the injury, and what a settlement does not close. ## **[Sent to a QME? From the panel to the report →](/articles/qme-panel-to-report/)** **A QME's report often decides a California workers' comp claim.** How the panel of three is chosen, what happens at the exam, and how to read the report. ## **[Workers' comp claim denied? From the letter to the judge →](/articles/workers-comp-claim-denied/)** **A denial letter starts the part of a California workers' comp claim that a judge decides.** How to read it, how to count the 90 days, and what carries you until a decision. ## **[Treatment denied? Utilization review and IMR, step by step →](/articles/treatment-denied-utilization-review/)** **Your doctor asked for treatment and utilization review said no.** How the review works, the deadlines that can make a denial invalid, and how to file for IMR in time. ## **[The first 30 days after a work injury, clock by clock →](/articles/first-30-days-after-a-work-injury/)** **Two dates start every clock in a California work injury claim: the day your employer learns of it, and the day you file the claim form.** What each one sets running, who chooses your first doctor, when the first check is due, and the folder to keep from week one. ## **[Hurt while driving for work: two claims, one crash →](/articles/hurt-driving-for-work/)** **A crash on the job usually opens two claims: workers' comp against your employer's insurance, and a civil claim against the driver who caused it.** When the drive is covered, what each claim pays, where a civil recovery goes, and the four clocks that start at the crash. ## **[Afraid to report a work injury? What the law protects →](/articles/afraid-to-report-a-work-injury/)** **Afraid of being fired, of questions about your papers, or of not being believed?** What California law actually protects when you report a work injury, and where it stops. ## **[When you don't need a lawyer, and what changes the answer →](/articles/when-you-dont-need-a-lawyer/)** **An accepted claim, paid on time, that ends with no lasting injury usually needs no lawyer.** The free state officer, the signals that change it, and the fees. ## **[The claim, start to finish →](/workers-compensation/claim-process/)** Every stage and every statutory deadline in one table — the reference page these articles hang off. ## **[Run the numbers yourself →](/resources/tools/)** **Free tools.** Weekly benefits, permanent disability, mileage, deadlines — every result with its statute beside it. ## **[What we got wrong, and when we fixed it →](/firm/corrections/)** **Corrections.** Every correction is logged in public. That is what "attorney-reviewed" has to mean. --- **(213) 380-9310** **[The reference library](/resources/)** · **[Common questions](/answers/)** · **[What changed in 2026](/resources/2026-law-changes/)** **[En español →](/es/articulos/)** · **[한국어 →](/ko/articles/)** ### Sources Labor Code § 4650(d) · § 4453