How much does workers’ comp pay in California? Temporary disability explained

California workers’ comp pays temporary disability (TD), the benefit for lost wages while a worker recovers, at two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly earnings, within a floor and a ceiling set each year. For injuries in 2026, the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) puts that range at $264.61 to $1,764.11 a week. The first payment is due within 14 days after the employer knows of the injury and the disability, then every two weeks (Labor Code 4650). For injuries on or after January 1, 2008, TD is generally limited to 104 compensable weeks within five years of the date of injury (Labor Code 4656). Permanent disability, which can follow, is calculated differently.

How is temporary disability calculated?

Labor Code 4653 sets temporary total disability (TTD) at two-thirds of average weekly earnings. “Earnings” is broader than base pay. The DWC’s temporary disability page counts wages, food, lodging, tips, commissions, overtime and bonuses, and the DWC says earnings can include other jobs held at the time of injury.

Under Labor Code 4453(c)(2), wages from a second job are added in, but not at a higher hourly rate than the job where the injury happened. The two-thirds is figured on gross, pre-tax wages, and TD itself is not taxed (DWC guidebook, chapter 5).

Two hypothetical workers injured in 2026 show how the limits work. One averaged $900 a week. Two-thirds is $600, inside the range, so the weekly rate is $600. The other averaged $3,000 a week. Two-thirds would be $2,000, above the 2026 ceiling, so the rate is $1,764.11.

For 2026 injuries, workers who earned less than about $397 a week get the floor rate, which the guidebook notes can mean more than two-thirds of their wages.

What are the TD rates for 2024, 2025 and 2026?

Date of injury	Lowest weekly TD	Highest weekly TD	Weekly earnings that reach the ceiling	Change in the state average weekly wage (SAWW)
2024	$242.86	$1,619.15	$2,428.72	None; the SAWW fell from $1,651 to $1,642, so the rates held
2025	$252.03	$1,680.29	$2,520.43	Up 3.77588%, from $1,642 to $1,704
2026	$264.61	$1,764.11	$2,646.16	Up 4.98826%, from $1,704 to $1,789

Sources: DWC Newslines 2023-84 (2024 rates), 2024-90 (2025) and 2025-116 (2026); the DWC benefit rate table, which prints the 2026 earnings figure as $2,646.17. Read October 8, 2026.

Each year’s floor and ceiling are two-thirds of a lowest and highest weekly earnings figure that Labor Code 4453(a)(10) raises each January 1 by the percentage increase in the SAWW. The statute defines the SAWW as the average weekly wage of California workers covered by unemployment insurance, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, for the 12 months ending March 31 of the year before the injury.

The limits for the year of injury stay with the claim for the whole disability, except for some TTD paid two years or more after the injury (Labor Code 4453(d), 4661.5).

When do payments start, and how often do they come?

Under Labor Code 4650(a), the first TD payment is due no later than 14 days after the employer knows of the injury and the disability, unless liability is denied before then. Later payments are due every two weeks (4650(c)). The DWC 1 claim form adds that no TD is paid for the first three days off work unless the worker is hospitalized overnight or cannot work for more than 14 days.

The guidebook says TD is paid when the treating doctor says the worker cannot do the usual job for more than three days or the worker is hospitalized overnight, and the employer offers no other work at the usual wages. If the claims administrator cannot tell within 14 days whether TD is owed, it must send a delay letter explaining why, what it needs and when it expects to decide. A delay is usually not longer than 90 days, the guidebook says.

What happens if a payment is late?

A late TD payment is increased by 10 percent, paid without the worker having to ask (Labor Code 4650(d)). The increase does not apply to payments due before or within 14 days after the claim form was submitted, when the claims administrator sent a proper delay notice within the first 14 days, or when the employer is continuing the worker’s wages under a salary continuation plan.

When payment is unreasonably delayed or refused, Labor Code 5814 allows an increase of up to 25 percent or $10,000, whichever is less, reduced by any 10 percent increase already paid on the same payment. A claim for that increase must be brought within two years from the date the payment was due.

A dispute over whether TD is owed, or how much, also qualifies for an expedited hearing. Labor Code 5502(b) calls for the hearing and a decision within 30 days after the declaration of readiness to proceed, the form that asks for a hearing, is filed.

What is the difference between TTD and TPD?

Temporary total disability (TTD) is paid when the worker cannot work at all while recovering. Temporary partial disability (TPD) is paid when the worker can do some work, the employer offers it, and the wages earned are lower than before. Labor Code 4654 sets TPD at two-thirds of the weekly loss in wages, reduced by any unemployment benefits received for the same period. The guidebook says the law sets limits on TPD as it does on TTD.

A hypothetical: a worker who averaged $900 a week before the injury and earns $600 a week on modified duty has a $300 weekly wage loss, so TPD would be $200 a week.

How long can temporary disability last?

For injuries on or after January 1, 2008, Labor Code 4656(c)(2) limits TD to 104 compensable weeks within five years from the date of injury. Section 4656(c)(3) allows up to 240 weeks within five years for certain conditions, including amputations, severe burns, HIV, acute and chronic hepatitis B and C, high-velocity eye injuries, chemical burns to the eyes, pulmonary fibrosis and chronic lung disease. Section 4656(d) allows up to 240 compensable weeks for injuries on or after January 1, 2023 that fall under section 3212.1.

TD also ends sooner when the treating doctor says the worker can return to the usual job, when the worker goes back to work at regular wages, or when the condition becomes permanent and stationary (guidebook, chapter 5). Permanent and stationary means the condition has stopped improving or getting worse. The claims administrator must then send a letter within 14 days of the last payment explaining why TD ended and listing what was paid.

What do people get wrong about TD?

• Expecting full wages. TD is two-thirds of average weekly earnings, inside that year’s range.
• Reading the ceiling as the amount owed. The $1,764.11 figure for 2026 applies only when two-thirds of the worker’s earnings would be higher.
• Leaving income out of the average. The DWC counts tips, overtime and bonuses, and says earnings can include other jobs held at the time of injury.
• Treating TD and permanent disability as one benefit. Permanent disability (PD) payments, when owed, start within 14 days after the last TD payment (Labor Code 4650(b)). The DWC’s rate table lists PD weekly rates of $160 to $290 for injuries from 2014 through 2026. How PD is rated is in permanent disability ratings.

What should I read next?

• What a TD case involves: temporary disability benefits.
• What comes after TD: how permanent disability ratings work.
• The first steps after an injury: what to do after a work injury.
• TD refused along with the claim: my workers’ comp claim was denied.

What one worker’s rate should be depends on that worker’s wage records, which this page cannot see.

Where does the Law Office of Jesse Melendrez fit?

The DWC’s guidebook says exact TD amounts can be complicated for workers who had a second job, seasonal work, wages that rose or fell, tips, overtime or bonuses, a scheduled raise, or TD paid more than two years after the injury.

The Law Office of Jesse Melendrez is in Newport Beach. We limit our practice to California workers’ compensation and represent injured workers only, with cases at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board district offices in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego. Attorney Jesse Melendrez (State Bar of California #263751) has represented injured workers since 2009.

This page explains how TD is figured. It is not legal advice about your claim. If you would like us to look at how your rate was calculated, tell us what happened.