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SAWW Increase to Require A California Workers Comp Benefit Bump in 2025

     Oakland, CA – California’s State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) rose just under 5 percent in the year ending March 31, 2025, which will bump up California workers’ compensation temporary total disability (TTD) and permanent total disability (PTD) rates for 2026 work injury claims and other workers’ compensation benefits that are tied to SAWW increases.  

     The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has provided the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) updated wage data showing that California’s SAWW increased 4.98826 percent from $1,704 in the first quarter of 2024 to $1,789 in the first quarter of this year. As a result, the TTD/PTD maximum rate, which is currently $1,680.29 per week for 2025 injuries, will go up an additional $83.82 to $1,764.11 per week for claims with injury dates on or after January 1, 2026. State law also ties minimum weekly TTD/PTD rates to SAWW increases, so that minimum will increase by $12.58 from the current $252.03 per week to $264.61 per week for claims with 2026 injury dates. Also beginning on January 1, 2026, 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 will go up due to the SAWW increase.

     Underpayment of benefits results in penalties, so CWCI encourages claims administrators to review changes in benefit rates with legal counsel to assure that adjustments are appropriate and accurate. DWC calculated the new TTD/PTD rates for 2026 injury claims after receiving the first quarter SAWW figure from the DOL this week and plans to issue a Newsline announcing the new rates. DWC Newslines are posted here. For additional reference, DOL’s Unemployment Insurance webpage https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/data_summary/DataSum.asp has tables showing the SAWW by quarter, though the data for the first quarter of 2025 has not been posted yet due to the recent federal government shutdown. A Bulletin with more details is available to CWCI members and subscribers under the Communications tab at www.cwci.org.