According to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI), a noticeable increase to temporary and permanent total disability (TTD/PTD) pay rates provided through workers’ compensation is on the way in 2022. Next year, the maximum TTD/PTD rate will increase to $1,539.71 per week, up from $1,356.31 per week, which is a $183.40 spike. The minimum TTD/PTD rate through workers’ compensation will increase from $203.44 per week to $230.95 per week.
Additional benefits increases can be expected for:
- Life pensions
- Death claims
- TTD payments that last more than 24 months
- PTD payments for injuries that happened as early as the start of 2003
These increases follow after the California State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) increased a massive 13.5% in the year ending March 31, 2021. Although, the SAWW increase is not due to the average pay ceiling increasing. Rather, it is caused by the average pay floor falling away. During the pandemic, an inordinate amount of low-income, entry-level jobs disappeared as small businesses closed their doors due to a lack of continued government assistance and bailouts.
Workers’ compensation insurance rates and benefits have to keep up with what the average worker in California takes home each week. Therefore, as low-income jobs reduced in number, the average pay per worker in the state technically increased, which spurred these changes.
For more information about this upcoming legal change, you can click here to view a full article from Insurance Journal. You can also visit the blog of Leigh Law Firm often for more entries about important legal changes to workers’ compensation and personal injury law. If you need our help with a workers’ comp claim, then you can contact our San Diego workers’ comp law firm or Los Angeles workers’ comp law firm at any time by filling out an online form.