Disability Benefits
Safety Officers who are covered under the County Employees Retirement Law or the Public Employees Retirement System come under the benefit provisions of Labor Code Section 4850. It provides for up to one year’s full salary, free from income tax, while an individual member is temporarily totally or permanently disabled from work. In contrast, non-safety employees who are temporarily unable to continue working because of an industrial injury or illness are only eligible to receive Temporary Total Disability benefits at two-thirds of salary up to the current limits at date of injury. These limits are well under 4850 benefits and are payable until the condition stabilizes to the point of maximum improvement.
In certain cases, non-sworn officers such as jailers and security officers who are members of CERL or PERS and are employed in active law enforcement have been held eligible for benefits under Labor Code Section 4850. This is not automatic and in many cases has to be litigated. Again, don’t rely on your employer to do the right thing.
If the temporary disability of a Safety Officer extends beyond one year for any one injury, full salary is discontinued and temporary total disability benefits will be paid at the prevailing state rate.
Additional extended benefits may be available to individuals who have elected to purchase a long-term disability policy, privately or through group plans. It would be a good idea to take an afternoon or a day off to sit down and take inventory of any mortgage insurance, payment guarantee policies (most installment loans offer this option for very little cost), etc., that you may have available. Seriously injured officers have found that this type of loan insurance has greatly relieved the stress and hardship in their lives as they begin the long road to recovery and rehabilitation.
Medical Treatment
Members are entitled to medical treatment to cure and relieve the effects of their industrial injuries or illnesses so long as it is medically necessary. Treatment may continue for the lifetime of the injured worker, but an order from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board is necessary in order to guarantee treatment beyond five years from the date of injury. It is therefore necessary to file a formal claim with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board within one year after the date of injury, or the date your employer last provided benefits, but no longer than five years from the date of injury in order to guarantee future lifetime medical care.
Even though you may have waited longer than one year from the date your employer last provided benefits or longer than five years from the date of injury, seek competent legal counsel in order to determine whether the Statute of Limitations truly bars any further action. In certain cases, these time limitations can be extended.
The law allows members their choice of treating doctors, if they do so before the injury or illness occurs. Your employer is required to give you the opportunity to designate your own doctor, and if you fail to do so you will be assigned a doctor by whoever administers your claim. We recommend that you designate your own doctor because he or she has gotten to know you over the years and is in a better position to give you the best personal medical care rather than a stranger who is called in on an emergency basis. If no pre-injury choice has been made, your employer will control medical treatment until you have the opportunity to elect a change of doctors after thirty days from the date the injury is reported.
Permanent Disability and Disability Retirement
If medical treatment was not sufficient to completely cure and relieve the effects of your industrial injury, and a disability remains either by way of continued pain, limitation of motion or work restriction, a permanent disability may be awarded. Permanent disability is based on the evaluations of the doctors who have examined you. The award can be anywhere between 1% to 100%. If awarded, these benefits currently are payable at the current rate, depending on the date of injury, for as long as it takes to pay off the award. Permanent disability is usually paid after the injured worker’s condition has stabilized.
Permanent disability is a different and separate benefit from disability retirement. If a member is medically restricted from continuing his or her normal duties, then a disability retirement may be available under the County Employees Retirement Law or the Public Employees Retirement System. Permanent disability payments may be received at the same time and in addition to retirement benefits and are awarded by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Disability retirement benefits are awarded separately by PERS or CERL. Permanent disability payments are not subject to taxation.
Death Benefits
Safety member dependents are entitled to statutory death benefits under Workers’ Compensation Law and for benefits available under PERS or CERL.
Death resulting from injuries arising out of employment may result in an award of weekly payments to the dependents. The amount and duration will depend on a number of factors too complicated to cover in any detail here. In addition, a burial expense benefit is also available. The Public Employees Retirement System may also pay a monthly allowance of one-half of the average monthly salary earned during the three years immediately preceding death, payable to the surviving spouse until their death or remarriage. Upon remarriage, there may be a reduction, or benefits may continue depending on any applicable contract modifications.
Public Safety officers who are killed in the line of duty have available to their dependents additional benefits from the federal government subject to yearly cost-of-living increases. These federal benefits are not applicable if death is due to occupational diseases (heart trouble, cancer, etc.).
Attorneys’ Fees
The law does not require you to have an attorney represent you in connection with processing a Workers’ Compensation claim. As a practical matter, however, you need to know that you will be opposed by an experienced Workers’ Compensation attorney whose job is to minimize your recovery.
If you retain an attorney, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board regulates the fees payable to your attorney. Currently, the range is between 9% and 15% of the disability amount ultimately awarded. If there is no money awarded to you, then no fee is payable to your attorney. This means that all attorney fees are contingent upon the outcome of your case.
Attorney fees are negotiable for Disability Retirement Appeals, and if you retain an attorney to represent you, a separate agreement will have to be made between the both of you regarding attorney fees.
