California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Workers’ Compensation announced on October 25th that the minimum rates for temporary total disability (TTD) will increase effective January 1, 2022. The new minimum TTD rate will be $230.95, up from $203.44, and the new maximum TTD rate will be $1,539.71, an increase from $1,356.31. The rate changes are pursuant to Labor Code Section 4453(a) (10), which requires that the maximum and minimum weekly earnings that determine TTD benefits be increased yearly, by a percentage equal to the increase in the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW). The SAWW increase for the year ending March 31, 2021 was 13.52132%.
Per the DWC, the calculations of the 2022 SAWW increase, minimum TTD rate, and maximum TTD rate are as follows:
2022 SAWW
(2022 SAWW – 2021 SAWW)/2021 SAWW
$1,570 – $1,383 = 187/1383 = 13.5213%
Minimum TTD Rate
Minimum earnings for 2022 x SAWW increase x 2/3 = minimum TTD rate for 2022
$305.16 x 1.135213 = $346.42 minimum TTD earnings x 2/3 = $230.95 minimum rate for 2022
Maximum TTD Rate
Maximum earnings for 2022 x SAWW increase x 2/3 = maximum TTD rate for 2022
$2,034.47 x 1.135213 = $2,309.56 maximum TTD earnings x 2/3 = $1,539.71 maximum rate
Workers with injury dates on or after January 1, 2003 are entitled to have their weekly Life Pension (LP) or permanent total disability (PTD) benefits adjusted based on the updated data.
SRTK will continue to monitor this development and provide updates as available. Please contact our offices with any questions about what these new rates mean for you. Our Workers’ Compensation calculators and Money Chart are available as a resource for all your workers’ comp needs and will be updated with the new data.