Keep in mind that if a neighbor, friend, or acquaintance asks you to help out around his or her home and is willing to pay you for it, you a most likely not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if you become injured.

According to Labor Code Section 3352 you are exempt from Workers’ Compensation Benefits if you are employed for fewer than 52 hours or earn less than $100 within 90 days of the calendar year while working in a home-related or personal services type job.

So the next time Mrs. Smith asks you to hang her Christmas Tree Lights for $50 and you fall off the ladder, look to your private insurance for coverage.

Only 11 1/2 More Hours…

You have been through endless medical treatments, been to a QME or AME evaluation, and then a reevaluation, sat through your two hour deposition, dealt with an endlessly frustrating insurance company (even months before you obtained an attorney), been to Oakland for a hearing(s), gone through maybe one or two surgeries and subsequent recoveries, and now you are finally at mediation, a mediation that can at times seem as drawn out and frustrating as all that has been outlined above.  However, don’t get discouraged.  Like anything else you will encounter in the workers’ compensation system, it is important to at least attempt to keep a positive attitude and to keep perspective.

If mediation is something that your attorney has suggested or believes would be a good idea given the facts and circumstances of your case, it’s typically for a good reason.  Sometimes the two sides (you and the insurance company) just cannot agree about anything.  The only thing you can agree on is that you need a third neutral party to come in and assist with communication and finding some common ground to work with.  This third neutral party is called a mediator, and they will be present at the mediation session.  The mediation session is designed to help facilitate settlement of your claim.  Needless to say, this can take hours, and by hours I mean many hours.  That is why it is important to come prepared, mainly for two reasons: 1) So you yourself don’t go crazy (there are only so many cups of coffee you can drink and texts you can send) and 2) So your attorney can effectively put pressure on the other side without major distractions.

If you have been to the Workers’ Comp Board in Oakland, you know how time consuming/boring it can be when attorney’s are negotiating.  Mediation can be like going to the Board, except longer and without the people watching in the lobby.  Like we often tell clients to bring a book or a magazine to the Board, the same goes for mediation.  Feel free to bring books, magazines, even a portable DVD player with headphones (you might get three movies in during a mediation).  If you want to bring snacks/drinks with you feel free to do that also.  And don’t forget to get someone to take care of your kids/pets on the day of mediation, since you could be gone for the day.

One of the reasons behind why the mediation can drag on so long is because the Defense Attorney could count on you getting tired or hungry, and use it leverage in negotiation, counting on you wanting to leave early and settling for a lesser amount than they ultimately would be willing to put on the table if they had to.  That and they bill by the hour, so the longer they are there, the more they get paid.  That’s not a bad thing, that’s just how Defense Attorney’s are compensated.

However, more often than not the mediation takes a long time to complete because there are simply fundamental areas of disagreement over certain issues of your claim that need to be creatively worked through, and that work takes time.  You are not at mediation because you have an easy case.  You are there because your claim is most likely complex or you also are pursuing a civil claim and are attempting what attorney’s call a global settlement.

The most important thing to remember out of all that is put forth above is: be prepared for a long day of mediation, after all, at the end of the day, your claim could very well be resolved, making those twelve hours spent in a conference room or office with your attorney worth it.

Rodman J. Martin

On December 31,2009 a ruling was made against  Governor Schwarzenegger stating that the state mandated furlough days were considered illegal.  The Governor implemented Furlough days for two fridays a month forcing state employees to not work and not get paid.  He then implemented an additional day later on in 2009.  The furlough days were intended to save money from the general fund; however, the employees forced to take furlough days were not paid from the general fund.

Employees affected by this decision come from the Division of  Workers’ Compensation, the state’s Department of Insurance, the Departmentof Motor Vehicles, the Public Utilities Commission and the Transportation Commission.

Employees are now demanding back pay for forced unpaid time off.  A decision has not been made yet.

So if yo have a Worker’s Compensation case, be on the look out for your court date to possibly fall on a Friday!

For more information go to : http://www.workcompcentral.com/1/news/news_print.htm?token=C8730EC60C04B56D6A642D08717377AC1D3E7CD0585373B5E1DEEAA4BF2CAE8D&state=CA&id=0ff472b118a9665b462bf2320996d3eeg

When an applicant is incarcerated after suffering an injury prior to being sent to jail, what happens to any temporary disability (TD) and/or permanent disability (PD) benefits that the applicant is entitled to? Labor Code Section 3370 addresses the area of state penal or correctional inmates and the treatment of such benefits. Subdivision (a) paragraph (2) says that no inmate shall be entitled to TD indemnity benefits while incarcerated in state prison. Paragraph (3) tells us that no benefits are to be paid to an inmate while they are incarcerated and that the benefits shall commence upon release. It goes on to point out that if the person is released and begins to receive benefits and is subsequently reincarcerated in a city or county jail or state penal or correctional facility, those benefits will immediately cease and will not be paid for the duration of the reincarceration.

Subdivision (d) of Section 3370 says that the above paragraphs of subdivision (a) are applicable to inmates of state penal or correctional institutions who are otherwise entitled to workers’ compensation benefits based on an injury prior to their incarceration. However, if the inmate has dependents, the TD and/or PD that the inmate would be entitled to if not for being incarcerated is paid to them. If the inmate has no dependents, then the TD goes to the State Treasury to the credit of the Uninsured Employers Fund and any PD is held in trust for the inmate while he is incarcerated by the Department of Corrections.

Good news!  The Labor Code Section 4659 COLA, cost of living adjustments, begin at the date of injury and not at the time COLA would be applied.  Translated, more money for anyone receiving a life pension.

New post about workers’ compensation.