Long Beach Office:
444 W. Ocean Blvd.,
Suite 400
Long Beach
California  90802
(562) 432-8421

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Apples and Oranges - Don't Mix Them Up

Have you ever heard anyone tell you that if you have a certain percent of permanent disability through workers' compensation claims, you are automatically entitled to a PERS disability retirement or a disability retirement through the County Retirement System?

T'aint true.

The workers' compensation system is intended to compensate an injured worker for injuries sustained at work.  These benefits consist of weekly payments of temporary disability "IOD time," medical treatment, permanent disability, vocational rehabilitation, and in certain tragic cases, death benefits to the dependents of a person whose death occurred in the course and scope of employment.  Workers' compensation benefits have nothing to do with retirement.

The Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and its counterpart for county employees the County Retirement System of 1937, are intended to allow agencies to retire disabled safety members who are no longer able to do the job they were hired to do by virtue of injures or diseases contracted during the course and scope of their employment.  This enables the agency to replace the disabled safety member with a person who can do the job, thereby serving the community with able bodied safety officers.  Typically, a lifetime benefit of 50% of salary, tax free, is provided.

Who makes the determination?  The agency.  When the member sends a written application to PERS, they simply send a letter to the agency giving them up to six months to make a determination.  The criteria is set by the agency itself.  Some agencies will retire a member where a doctor's work restriction is relatively minimal such as "no very heavy lifting."  Such a restriction would normally take a 10% standard in workers' compensation terms but be regarded as totally disabling for a fire fighter who is expected to carry people, frequently infirm and overweight people, out of burning buildings.

On the other hand, a police agency may have a desk job for an officer who is limited to "sedentary work only", which in workers' compensation terms would take a 70% permanent disability.

If the agency makes a determination that you don't like, can you fight it?

Yes.  Without going into a lot of boring detail, there are appeals processes available and the members should consult with an attorney expert  in these matters.  Over a lifetime, retirement benefits can total six and seven figures.  Therefore, this is not something you should trust to amateurs.  When in doubt, contact your POA or association for a referral to an attorney, or firm, with a known track record.