California To Raise Temporary Total Disability Rates

California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that the temporary total disability rate for 2008 will increase to $916.33 per week.

The maximum temporary total disability (TTD) rate will increase to $916.33 on Jan. 1, 2008. This marks the second year in a row that the TTD rate will be affected by a change in the state average weekly wage (SAWW).

Beginning in 2006, Labor Code section 4453(a)(10) required the rate for TTD be increased by an amount equal to the percentage increase in the SAWW, as compared to the prior year. The SAWW is defined as the average weekly wage paid to employees covered by unemployment insurance ,as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor for California for the 12 months ending Mar. 31 in the year preceding the injury.

The California SAWW for the 12 months ending Mar. 31, 2007, was $914.60. For the period ending Mar. 31, 2006, this figure was $880, amounting to a percentage increase of 3.932 percent. Applying this increase to the prior year’s maximum benefit of $881.66 brings the 2008 maximum benefit to $916.33.

The minimum TTD rate is also subject to annual adjustment based on increases in the SAWW, so the minimum rate of $132.25 will increase to $137.45

SAWW rates may be verified at the US Department of Labor Web site. SAWW for the 12 months preceding Mar. 31, 2006: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/content/data_stats/datasum06/1stqtr/DataSum_2006_1.pdf. For the 12 months preceding Mar. 31, 2007, see http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/content/data_stats/datasum07/1stqtr/DataSum_2007_1.pdf.

Source: DWC