What you’re owed
California workers’ compensation, calculated the way the statute actually says — with the Labor Code section printed next to every number, and the traps named rather than hidden. Verified against the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s published 2026 rates on August 19, 2026.
Temporary disability
Two-thirds of your average weekly earnings, floored and capped. The rate is set by your date of injury — not by the year you’re being paid in. That is the single most common error on published rate tables. But there is one exception worth real money: under Labor Code § 4661.5, a temporary total disability payment made two years or more after your date of injury is computed using the § 4453 limits in effect on the date of that payment, unless that would pay you less. On a delayed or denied claim at the cap, that is tens of thousands of dollars, it is self-executing, and carriers routinely pay the old rate anyway.
Permanent disability
Once a doctor says you’re permanent and stationary, a percentage gets assigned and converted to weeks under Labor Code § 4658. The schedule is cumulative — the statute says so expressly — and calculators that multiply your whole rating by one band’s figure get it wrong in both directions.
Medical mileage
You are reimbursed for travel to treatment, to a QME or AME, to the pharmacy, and to physical therapy. The rate is the one in effect on the day you travelled — not the day you were injured, and not the year you file the request. The rate changed mid-year in 2026.
Late payments
California charges the insurance company for paying you late. The 10% under § 4650(d) is self-executing — it is owed automatically, without a hearing, without anyone asking, and without proving anything beyond the date. Most people never collect it because nobody tells them it exists.