Oakland, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor reports California’s State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) rose 3.84013 percent in the year ending March 31, 2019, which the state Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) reports will boost temporary total disability (TTD) and permanent total disability (PTD) rates for 2020 work injury claims and other workers’ comp benefits tied to SAWW increases.

California’s current TTD/PTD maximum rate is $1,251.38 per week, but according to the DWC, for claims with injury dates on or after January 1, 2020, the maximum rate will jump to $1,299.43 per week, while the minimum TTD/PTD rates will rise from the current $187.71 per week to $194.91 for claims with 2020 injury dates.     

Other workers’ compensation benefits, including TTD paid two years or more after injury, life pension and PTD payments for injuries on or after January 1, 2003, and installment payments on death claims also will increase next year due to the SAWW increase.  Underpayment of benefits results in penalties, so the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) encourages claims administrators to review changes in benefit rates with legal counsel to assure that adjustments are appropriate and accurate.  For reference, the SAWW for the 12 months ending 3/31/18 and for the 12 months ending 3/31/19 can be found in the U.S. Department of Labor Unemployment Insurance database, which is available online at https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/data_summary/DataSum.asp.

A CWCI Bulletin and an Executive Memo with more details is available to Institute members and subscribers at www.cwci.org and the DWC Newsline announcing the SAWW increase and the 2020 TD rates is posted under “What’s New” at  https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/.