Return to Work and Modified Duty After a California Work Injury
After a work injury in California, you may offer modified duty that fits the doctor's written restrictions, and you must engage with the worker about accommodation, but you may not treat the injury, the claim, or the restrictions as a reason to push the worker out. Three separate bodies of law apply to the same injured worker at once: workers' compensation, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and the anti-retaliation statutes, and complying with one does not satisfy the others.
Just had a serious injury? Call 949-954-6581. Thinking about discipline or termination? Call employment counsel first.
The claim form and the claim timeline
The employer gives the injured worker a DWC 1 claim form within one working day after the injury is reported, and within one working day of getting it back, returns a copy to the worker, forwards it to the claims administrator, and authorizes up to $10,000 in appropriate treatment. (DWC employer FAQ) The first day steps are on our first 24 hours checklist.
From there, the Division of Workers' Compensation describes the clock this way: generally, the insurance company has 14 days to send the worker a letter on the status of the claim, and if the claim is not denied within 90 days of filing the claim form, the injury is presumed to be covered. (DWC, How to file a claim) The regulation on delay and denial notices is 8 CCR 9812.
What you may and may not do with restrictions
The treating doctor's work status report is your working document. The DWC says any work you assign must meet the restrictions; if you do not have work that meets them, the injured employee cannot be required to work; and if the doctor reports no restrictions, you usually must give the employee the same job and pay as before. (DWC employer FAQ)
You may:
- Offer modified or transitional work that fits the written restrictions, in writing, with the hours, pay, duties, supervisor, and location.
- Ask the doctor, through the claims administrator, whether a specific job description fits the restrictions.
You may not:
- Assign work that exceeds the restrictions, even for a day.
- Demand the worker's medical chart. A claims administrator may disclose to the employer only the diagnosis for which compensation is claimed, the treatment for that condition, and the information you need to modify work duties. (CHSWC return to work handbook, citing Labor Code 3762)
- Use accommodation forms that ask for medical records, a specific diagnosis, or what caused the disability. The Civil Rights Department says employer forms may not request more than the law allows, including those three things. (CRD fact sheet)
- Make "100 percent healed" a condition of coming back. A blanket full duty rule skips the individual assessment the accommodation duty requires. Talk to employment counsel before applying one.
Where FEHA and the interactive process come in
The Fair Employment and Housing Act applies to private employers with five or more employees, and the Civil Rights Department lists temporary conditions such as a back injury or a broken arm among those that can support an accommodation request. (CRD fact sheet)
The duty to start the interactive process does not wait for the worker to use the right words. The CRD says employers must initiate the process when an employee requests accommodation, and must also offer to start it when the employer becomes aware of the need through a third party, by observation, or because the employee has exhausted leave but still needs accommodation. It also states that failing to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process is unlawful. (CRD, Reasonable Accommodation) A work status report with restrictions is that awareness.
In practice, when restrictions arrive:
- Meet with the worker promptly and write down what was discussed.
- Compare the restrictions to the essential tasks of the job and to available modified work.
- Consider the worker's preference, keep talking as restrictions change, and document it.
Talk to employment counsel on the questions the law leaves to the facts: whether a particular restriction is a disability under FEHA, whether a given assignment is a reasonable accommodation, whether leave is an accommodation and for how long, and whether something is an undue hardship.
Leave may also be protected. The CRD says the California Family Rights Act covers employees with more than 12 months of service at an employer of five or more employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months. (CRD family and medical leave fact sheet) How CFRA leave runs alongside a comp claim is a question for counsel.
Modified duty offers and the voucher
For injuries on or after January 1, 2013, a worker left with permanent partial disability receives a $6,000 supplemental job displacement voucher unless the employer offers regular, modified, or alternative work. (DWC employee FAQ) The offer must be made no later than 60 days after the claims administrator receives the physician's Return to Work and Voucher Report. (8 CCR 10133.31) The DWC describes qualifying alternative work as meeting the restrictions, lasting at least 12 months, paying at least 85 percent of the wages and benefits at the time of injury, and within a reasonable commute.
The traps: Labor Code 132a and retaliation
Labor Code section 132a prohibits discrimination against workers because they filed a workers' compensation claim or were injured on the job. The Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation summarizes the remedy as a 50 percent increase in compensation up to $10,000, plus reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits. (CHSWC handbook) The DWC says the worker must file within one year of the discriminatory act. (DWC I and A Guide 7) The $10,000 figure caps the increase in compensation, not reinstatement or lost wages, and FEHA and Labor Code 6310 provide separate remedies of their own.
Reporting a work-related injury is itself protected. The Labor Commissioner's Office takes retaliation complaints under Labor Code 6310 and 6311, including from employees who report a work-related injury or file a safety complaint. (Labor Commissioner)
The patterns that turn a comp claim into a lawsuit:
- Termination for a reason that was never written down before the injury. If the performance problem is not in the file dated before the accident, assume it will not be believed.
- Discipline that starts or speeds up after the report.
- Treating restrictions as "can't work" and ending employment without an interactive process.
- Offering work that exceeds restrictions, then disciplining the refusal. The DWC guidebook warns employees that action taken against them for refusing such work could violate 132a. (DWC guidebook, Chapter 6)
- Calling the claim a fraud. Do not accuse the worker. If you have a real concern, raise it with the claims administrator and your counsel and let them decide what happens next.
Make any discipline or separation decision with employment counsel before it happens.
Common questions
Can I require an injured worker to accept light duty?
You can offer work that meets the doctor's restrictions. If the work does not meet the restrictions, the worker does not have to accept it, and if you have no work that fits, the worker cannot be required to work.
Can I terminate an employee who is on workers' compensation?
A claim does not make an employee untouchable, but a termination during one draws scrutiny under Labor Code 132a, FEHA, and Labor Code 6310. Decide with employment counsel before you act.
How much medical information can I get from the carrier?
The diagnosis for which compensation is claimed, the treatment for that condition, and the information you need to modify work duties. Restrictions, yes. The chart, no.
Do I have to start the interactive process if the worker never asked?
The Civil Rights Department says employers must offer to start the process when they become aware of the need through a third party or by observation. Restrictions on a work status report count.
What is the deadline for a modified work offer to avoid the voucher?
No later than 60 days after the claims administrator receives the physician's Return to Work and Voucher Report, for injuries on or after January 1, 2013. The work must last at least 12 months.
Need a modified duty program? Book a call or see our services. For the Cal/OSHA side of the same injury, see serious injury reporting and our post-accident investigation guide.
M Squared Safety Solutions, Inc., 981 Calle Negocio Suite 200, San Clemente, CA 92673, 949-954-6581. This page describes what the regulations and statutes say as of September 2026. It is not legal advice; for decisions about a specific employee or citation, involve employment or OSHA defense counsel.