Payment of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) by the Division of Workers’ Compensation are the sort of “compensation” outlined in § 440.15(1)(f), held the Supreme Court of Florida. Accordingly, where an employer inexplicably stopped... Read More
Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases and statutes cited below. Since Senate Bill 899 was passed, there has been a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the proper calculation and evaluation of the COLAs provided for under Labor Code Section 4659... Read More
The California Supreme Court has spoken again about COLAs. Call it Baker Redux. In response to a Petition for Rehearing filed by San Jose attorney Arthur Johnson, the California Supreme Court issued a modified opinion that can be found here: Baker... Read More
The California Supreme Court has issued its decision denying the Petition for Rehearing filed by applicant in Baker v W.C.A.B. (XYZZX) . The court did make some modifications to its opinion that to some extent addressed the issues raised in applicant... Read More
The US Department of Labor has issued its 1st Quarter Unemployment statistics for the State Average Weekly Wages (SAWW) used for calculating statutory increases in Minimum and Maximum TD benefits under Labor Code §4453(a)(10) and also Life Pension... Read More
LexisNexis Announces New Editors-in-Chief: Richard Jacobsmeyer, Julius Young, Barry Bloom This 31st edition marks a transition in the history of Herlick, California Workers’ Compensation Handbook . Longtime author Stanford D. Herlick passed away... Read More
[ Editor's Note: This blog post has been corrected .] Unfortunately when I initially looked at the Dept of Labor site for this information, the link for last year’s information took me to the 4th quarter, not the first quarter. This resulted... Read More
By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. The year 2011 has been noteworthy for many events in our workers’ compensation system and as much for events that did not occur. So this year, we will add a bonus – the Top Five Events In 2011 That Did Not Occur... Read More
When a workers’ compensation practitioner talks about the appropriate COLA, he is usually not discussing his favorite soft drink! Rather, Labor Code Section 4659 (c) indicates that certain awards of permanent disability shall be increased annually... Read More
Calculation of attorneys’ fees has always been a hot-button issue for the WCAB. When the calculation involves a lifetime award of permanent total disability (PTD) benefits, the issue ratchets up a notch. Lately, several conflicting panel decisions... Read More
By Marianne Tancor, J.D. How to calculate and award reasonable attorney’s fees has long been a hotly disputed issue confronting the WCAB. Adding to the fire in cases where attorney’s fees must be calculated on lifetime awards of PTD or... Read More
The W.C.A.B. has issued an en banc decision addressing one of the consequential issues to the two-year limitation on payment of temporary total disability benefits contained in Labor Code § 4656(c). In Brower v. David Jones Construction , the W.C... Read More
Notice of Correction: The date in the first paragraph has been corrected. Labor Code Section 4659(c) mandates that for injuries occurring after January 1, 2003, awards resulting in either a life pension or total permanent disability indemnity shall... Read More
The California Supreme Court has issued its decision in Baker v W.C.A.B. (XYZZX) (previously Duncan v W.C.A.B.) finally determining the question pending since 1/1/03 with the passage of AB 749 and the amendment to Labor Code § 4659 providing for... Read More