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Industry Insights

SJDB Voucher FAQs

  • State: California
  • - Popular with: Legal
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By Allan Leno

These are answers to frequently-asked questions about California's Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits.

Are we required to send the Job Offer Notice to the employee if there was no TD benefit paid?  Applicant’s attorney has requested that I pay the employee a 15% increase stating “the law is clear, if you do not offer work in the appropriate manner within 60 days of the P&S date you owe the 15% increase.

Technically a job offer notice (either a DWC AD 10118 for regular work or DWC AD 10133.53 for modified/alternative work) must be sent when there is PD so you can take the 15% PD credit.  There have been a couple of cases that said you did not owe the 15% increase if (1) there was no lost time, and (2) no offer form was sent - but these were writ denied cases and may not have much value.  If the claimant lost no time from work, I would pay the 4650 PD rate and argue that no offer was necessary since the person was never off work (i.e., why would you offer someone a job they already have?); Let applicant’s attorney make his argument to the WCJ.  However, keep in mind that you could owe a penalty on the entire PD benefit if you lose this argument at the board.  To avoid this kind of situation, I think it is a good “standard practice” to send job offers on all cases with PD whether or not there has been lost time.

I have a claimant who is entitled to a $6,000 voucher but has moved to Arizona.  I gave her the websites but the schools are all in California. Are there any accredited schools in AZ or a website I can provide her?

Out of state training programs must be approved by the particular state’s authorizing agency (see AD Reg. §10133.56(g)).  The employee should be able to locate local approved training facility through the State of Arizona’s agency web site.  You can find the Arizona Private Postsecondary Education Board web site through our web site at http://www.leno-assoc.com/files/linkc.pdf.

I have a very nice lady who wants to sign up at a community college. She will need registration fee, books, parking, computer; the usual stuff.  If she provides me with receipts for all this, can I reimburse her or do I have to pay the school & computer store?

Both the statute (L.C. §4658.5(b)) and the regulations (AD Reg. 10133.56(h)) allow for reimbursement of expenses to the applicant upon presentation of proof of payment OR direct payment to the training facility upon presentation of an invoice, signed copy of the SJDB voucher (10133.57), and proof of enrollment.  Keep in mind that the school must be an approved training facility whether you are reimbursing the employee or paying the training facility directly.

The injured worker was released to Full Duties and has some PD.  The Employer's location has been closed so there is no job for her to return to; basically, she was laid off about a year ago.  Does this scenario qualify for the 15% Increase?  I wouldn't think so since it was an issue beyond employer's control (economy), but I'm not sure.  Also, with no restrictions, what would the voucher be for?  If not, is it a decrease or none of the above?

The employee would be entitled to a 15% increase in weekly PD beginning on the 61st day after the employee becomes P&S.  L.C. § 4658(d)(2) specifies that an injured employee is entitled to the PD increase when s/he is not offered a position by the employer.  There is no mention in the statute regarding the employer’s failure to offer.  While it is true that the employer is not responsible for the poor economy, it is also true that the employee is not responsible for economic conditions.  The workers’ comp system typically does not hold the employee responsible for conditions beyond his/her control but, in this situation, the employer will have to pay the increase because there are no exceptions for economic conditions listed in the Labor Code.

The employee would not be entitled to a voucher because she is not precluded from her regular duties.  L.C. § 4658.6 specifies the conditions under which the employee is not liable for an SJDB voucher.  A voucher is not due when the employer offers modified or alternative work, something we would not do for a person who is released to full duty, as is the case here. 

Could you review the attached invoice for expense for a training program?  It appears to be that we are basically paying for a very expensive computer system for a person that has bilateral carpal tunnel and trigger fingers.  I’m not really sure I should be paying for this since this the first voucher I have seen redeemed.  Please advise.

This is a very common voucher question which involves two issues.  First, claims administrators often receive invoices for “training programs” that seem to be little more than excuses for some entity to bill for an eligible injured worker’s entire voucher without giving them any substantive training in return.  Unfortunately, there is very little the claims administrator can do if the school is approved by a State agency, the applicant signed his or her SJDB voucher for the proposed training program, and there is evidence that s/he actually registered for the program.  If the program is approved, one of the few reasons to deny payment is that the computer is not shown as required for all students; most training programs have written their course descriptions to require computers.  In this instance, it does appear that you will have to pay the invoice.

The second issue is that the program appears to be inappropriate for an injured worker with a bilateral carpal tunnel injury (there is no voice activation software shown on the invoice).  The statute that created the SJDB voucher (L.C. § 4658.5) does not give the claims administrator any authority to deny payment for training programs that are physically inappropriate for the injured worker, even where there is a clear conflict between the duties of the new occupation and the injured employee’s work restrictions.  In this situation, you will have to pay the invoice because the program is approved and the applicant has signed her voucher and registered for the course.   

I’ve got quite a few clients that are staffing agencies, I’ve batted around the idea with carriers that the criteria used to determine SJDB eligibility can’t and doesn’t apply to “special employment” arrangements. It seems to me that “seasonal employees” are for the most part interchangeable with “staffing/temp” employees; at least as far as drawing a correlation with something similar in Labor Code.

I can’t seem to find any caselaw on the matter. I do see in the Regulations that if an employee was hired on a seasonal basis, and as long as similar employment begins within a year from the DOI in a similar fashion, no SJDB benefits are due. Any personal experiences and opinions on this issue?


If the employee needs job modification as a result of the work injury, he or she will be entitled to an SJDB voucher if suitable work is not offered.  The only question is who will pay for it, the staffing agency or the employer at the time of injury.  It boils down to who is providing the workers' comp policy.  The requirement is per L.C. § 4658.5 which you will note does not make any exceptions for staffing agencies - it simply says that the employee who cannot return to work due to injury gets a voucher if the "employer" does not offer modified or alternative work (per L.C. § 4658.6).

Allan Leno is principal of Leno & Associates, a return-to-work and vocational rehabilitation consulting firm in Newbury Park, Calif. This column was reprinted with his permission from the firm's monthly newsletter.

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