Sustaining a work-related injury is very common, and California workers’ compensation law is designed to protect employees and to provide them with the benefits they need to overcome those injuries, along with the financial difficulties that arise as a result of a work injury. Injuries sustained at the workplace vary, as does their severity. The type and amount of benefits that injured employees may receive depend largely on the type and severity of the injury.
If you have sustained a permanent disability as a result of an injury at work, this article provides the basic knowledge you need about permanent disability under California workers’ compensation law.
If you would like insight on other topics related to workers’ compensation, you may contact one of our California workers’ compensation attorneys for a consultation, or you may browse the content of our website for general California workers’ compensation information.
What is permanent disability?
When you have been injured, in most cases you hope that you will make a full recovery. This is unfortunately not always the case, and sometimes there is damage which is permanent and which you will never recover from. It may be expressed in different forms depending on the type of injury suffered, and may include lasting pain or other limitations. This is what is known as “permanent disability,” and it may be physical or mental.
What are permanent disability benefits and how do I get them?
If, as a result of a work-related injury, you have a permanent disability, then you may be able to receive permanent disability benefits. In order for you to receive benefits for your permanent disability, you must have reached a stage called “maximum medical improvement” (MMI) or “permanent and stationary” (P&S). Our page on what happens when you are declared permanent and stationary walks through the report, the benefits that stop and start, and how to dispute it.
In order to prove that you have reached this stage, you must have a report written by your doctor which states that your condition has stabilized and is unlikely to change substantially within the next year, with or without further medical treatment.
What happens when I reach MMI/P&S?
If you have been receiving temporary disability payments, those payments will stop, because you have now recovered as far as you are going to. If that means that you can go back to work and you have made a full recovery, then you will not be eligible for permanent disability benefits. However, if there are still mental or physical limitations remaining as a result of your injury, then you may be entitled to compensation for permanent disability. Permanent disability under workers’ compensation is separate from Social Security Disability (SSDI); many injured workers with lasting restrictions qualify for both, and the two benefits are coordinated through an offset. A permanent disability award does not decide the SSDI claim, and a Social Security denial has its own 60-day appeal; see how to appeal a denied SSDI claim.
Types of permanent disability
The extent of your permanent disability has an effect on the amount of compensation you are entitled to receive. There are two basic categories of permanent disability benefits: total and partial, which we discuss separately below.
What is total permanent disability?
We speak of total permanent disability when, as a result of your injury and subsequent disability, you are not expected to be able to work for the rest of your life in any capacity. Due to the high threshold for proving total permanent disability, it is rare in workers’ compensation cases.
Nevertheless, Labor Code section 4662(a) provides that certain permanent disabilities are conclusively presumed to be total. These are the following:
- Loss of both eyes or the sight thereof;
- Loss of both hands or the use thereof;
- An injury resulting in a practically total paralysis;
- An injury to the brain resulting in permanent mental incapacity.
For all other cases, total permanent disability is determined on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the facts of each case, depending on the permanent disability rating (see below), which would need to be 100% in order to be considered total.
What is partial permanent disability?
Any permanent disability which is not total, meaning that it does not fall within the cases listed under Labor Code section 4662(a), or that has a permanent disability rating of less than 100%, is considered a partial permanent disability.
How does the rating process begin?
The process for rating permanent disability begins with medical reports. The physician who is treating you writes a report which describes any permanent impairments that you have as a result of your injuries, usually at the time the P&S report is written. This report details the loss of normal use of your injured body part, or the loss of normal psychological functioning.
In order to do that, physicians follow detailed guidelines to describe your impairments. If there is disagreement with respect to the content of the report, a qualified medical evaluator (QME) or an agreed medical evaluator (AME) may be selected to provide another expert opinion. For more information on qualified medical evaluators, contact one of our workers’ compensation attorneys.
How do I receive my permanent disability rating?
After your doctor has completed the medical report, the findings of the report are translated into a permanent disability rating, which shows how much of an effect your disability has on the work you are able to do.
The rating process happens through the application of a complex formula which takes into account your age, occupation, and physical and mental limitations. If you are unhappy with your permanent disability rating, you have the right to challenge it, as it plays a very important role in determining the amount of compensation that you may be entitled to receive.
Can I get benefits if the permanent disability resulted from my injury aggravating another condition?
There is no easy answer to this question, because like many other issues relating to workers’ compensation, this depends on the specific facts of each case. Generally, having a pre-existing medical condition will not necessarily prevent you from getting benefits if that condition was aggravated by the work-related injury you sustained. However, it will be important when permanent disability benefits are being calculated, as California law requires doctors to apportion the disability between the work injury and other causes (Labor Code section 4663).
The report that your doctor prepares with respect to your permanent disability must include a determination of whether the permanent disability was a direct result of the work-related injury, and if only partially, then what percentage was caused by the work-related injury and what percentage came from other factors such as previous injuries or illnesses.
What amount of permanent disability payments can I receive and for how long?
For partial permanent disability, the weekly benefit is two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to minimum and maximum amounts that depend on your date of injury. For injuries on or after January 1, 2014, which includes injuries occurring today, the minimum permanent disability rate is $160 per week and the maximum is $290 per week. A 100 percent permanent total disability is different: it is paid for life at the temporary disability rate, two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to the much higher temporary disability maximum, with annual cost-of-living increases (Labor Code section 4659(b)).
The difference between partial permanent disability benefits and total permanent disability benefits lies in how long you receive the payments. Partial permanent disability benefits last only for a set number of weeks, which are calculated under Labor Code section 4658 based on your permanent disability rating.
Example: Under the current schedule in Labor Code section 4658, an employee with a permanent disability rating of 50% is entitled to payments for 400 weeks. If the rating is 20%, the period is 100 weeks. Our settlement chart shows how a permanent disability rating turns into weeks of benefits at the 2026 rates.
Moreover, even if you do not qualify for total permanent disability benefits, if your permanent disability rating is 70% or more, then you may also be entitled to receive a life pension, which is a smaller ongoing payment that continues after the regular permanent disability payments end. The amount of your life pension depends on the date of injury, your wages, and the level of disability.
When do I begin receiving permanent disability benefits?
Generally, you begin receiving permanent disability benefits within 14 days after the last payment of temporary disability benefits. Our permanent and stationary page explains the 14-day rule for permanent disability advances after MMI. You should receive payments from the insurance company at least every two weeks.
What happens if my permanent disability benefit payments are late?
If the insurance company pays a permanent disability payment late, the payment is automatically increased by 10% (Labor Code section 4650(d)). If the delay is unreasonable, the WCAB can award an additional penalty of up to 25% of the delayed amount or $10,000, whichever is less (Labor Code section 5814).
Conclusion
Several factors decide the value of a permanent disability award: the impairment rating, your occupation, age and wages, apportionment, and whether the case is settled with future medical care open or closed. Abdi & Associates, Inc. represents injured workers throughout California in permanent disability disputes before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board; attorney fees are set by the judge and paid from the award. Our page on how the fee comes out of the permanent disability award explains the percentages judges approve. Call (888) 772-2529 or, in Spanish, (323) 310-4264 for a free consultation.
Permanent disability is one piece of a larger claim. Our Los Angeles workers’ compensation overview explains medical care, temporary disability, settlements and how the WCAB process works.
Sources: Cal. Lab. Code §§ 4650, 4658, 4659, 4660.1, 4662, 4663, 4664, 5814; DWC Schedule for Rating Permanent Disabilities.
Reviewed by Shawn Abdi, Esq., Abdi & Associates, Inc. Last reviewed: September 4, 2026. Attorney advertising. This page is general information, not legal advice about your specific situation. Legal deadlines have exceptions; confirm the deadlines that apply to your case with a lawyer.