Winston Churchill once said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” While it may still be too early to tell for sure, it does seem unfortunate that Mr. Churchill did not have the opportunity to impart this sagacious tidbit to the authors of California Labor Code Sections 4658 - 4658.6 and Regulation 10002.

Those code sections starting with Labor Code Section 4658 provide the mechanism by which permanent disability is increased or decreased, depending on whether the employer returns the injured employee to work in a regular, modified, or alternate capacity. However simple this concept may appear, when the provisions of the statute are placed into practice, its complexity becomes evident.

This Expert Commentary, authored by Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi, LLP, one of the largest firms in the country specializing in California Workers' Compensation Defense, addresses issues such as who qualifies for the permanent disability adjustment; how the adjustment is applied; what happens if the regular, modified, or alternative work offered to the employee is terminated before the end of the period for which permanent disability payments are owing; and how the supplemental job displacement statute affects adjustments under Labor Code Section 4658.