Labor Code §4653 – Temporary Disability Rate

Labor Code §4653 sets California’s temporary total disability (TD) rate: if a work injury keeps you from working while you recover, your weekly workers’ comp check is two-thirds of your average weekly earnings. For injuries in 2026, that amount is kept between a minimum of $264.61 and a maximum of $1,764.11 a week.

Section 4653 is a single sentence, and it has not been amended since 1973. Most fights over TD are not about the two-thirds formula itself. They are about the inputs, mainly what counts as your “average weekly earnings” and which year’s minimum and maximum apply. This page explains the statute, how the number is built, the limits and exceptions, and the payment deadlines that back it up. For an overview of TD benefits and how to get them started, see our temporary disability benefits page. To run your own numbers, use our workers’ comp calculator.

What Labor Code §4653 says

The statute reads, in part: “If the injury causes temporary total disability, the disability payment is two-thirds of the average weekly earnings during the period of such disability, consideration being given to the ability of the injured employee to compete in an open labor market.”

The sentence has three working parts:

• Temporary total disability. You are temporarily unable to work at all because of the injury, as opposed to a permanent loss or a partial loss of earnings.
• Two-thirds of average weekly earnings. The rate is a fraction of what you were earning, not of what you take home after taxes. The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) describes TD as two-thirds of your gross, pre-tax wages.
• Ability to compete in an open labor market. The rate looks at your earning capacity, not just one paycheck. That is consistent with Labor Code §4453(c)(4), which lets earnings be set at a figure that “reasonably represents the average weekly earning capacity” when the standard methods don’t fit.

By the numbersTwo-thirds

Who §4653 covers

Section 4653 applies to employees with a compensable work injury or illness whose doctor says they can’t work during recovery. It covers workers paid hourly, by salary, by piece rate or on commission. If you are back at work in a limited way and earning less, you are on temporary partial disability instead. Under §4654, that pays two-thirds of your weekly loss in wages, reduced by any unemployment benefits you receive for the same period.

Watch: injured at work in California

Our attorneys explain what your employer must do after a work injury, and what to do in the first 24 hours to protect your claim.

How your TD rate is calculated

Step 1: Average weekly earnings (§4453(c))

Labor Code §4453(c) gives four ways to figure average weekly earnings (AWE):

1. Steady full-time work (30 or more hours and 5 or more days a week): the number of working days a week times your daily earnings at the time of injury.
2. More than one job: “the aggregate of these earnings from all employments computed in terms of one week.” Earnings from the other jobs are counted at no more than the hourly rate you were paid at the job where you were hurt.
3. Irregular pay (piecework, commission, or pay stated by the week, month or another period): your actual weekly earnings averaged over a period of up to one year.
4. Everything else (under 30 hours a week, or the other methods don’t reasonably apply): 100 percent of the sum that reasonably represents your average weekly earning capacity, considering all your actual earnings from all sources.

Step 2: Multiply by two-thirds (§4653)

Two-thirds of your AWE is your weekly TD rate, unless it falls outside the limits in step 3.

Step 3: Apply the minimum and maximum for your injury year (§4453)

Section 4453 caps and floors the earnings used, and indexes both limits each January 1 to the change in the state average weekly wage. The DWC publishes the resulting rates:

Date of injury	TD minimum / week	TD maximum / week
Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2026	$264.61	$1,764.11
Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2025	$252.03	$1,680.29

For a 2026 injury, the DWC’s chart works out like this: if your AWE is below $396.92, you get the $264.61 minimum. Between $396.93 and $2,646.17, you get two-thirds of your AWE. Above $2,646.17, you get the $1,764.11 maximum. The 2026 figures rose 4.98826% with the state average weekly wage, from $1,704 to $1,789 (DIR News Release 2025-116, Nov. 21, 2025). As of October 31, 2026, the DWC had not announced TD rates for 2027 injuries.

The two-year rule (§4661.5)

If a TD payment is made two years or more after your date of injury, §4661.5 says it is computed using the minimum and maximum in effect on the date the payment is made, unless a reduction in the minimum would make the payment lower that way. For workers near the maximum, a long recovery can mean a raise in TD.

Limits and exceptions

• Three-day waiting period (§4652): TD is not paid for the first three days of disability. The exceptions are if the disability lasts more than 14 days or you are hospitalized as an inpatient. Then TD is owed from the first day.
• 104-week cap (§4656): for injuries on or after January 1, 2008, TD for one injury “shall not extend for more than 104 compensable weeks within a period of five years from the date of injury.” Certain serious conditions get a longer cap. See our §4656 explainer.
• When TD stops: the DWC says TD generally ends when you return to work, when your doctor releases you for work, or when your doctor says your injury has improved as much as it’s going to. At that point permanent disability may begin.
• Taxes: the DWC says you don’t pay federal, state or local income tax on TD benefits.

---

Payment deadlines and penalties (§4650)

• First check: due “not later than 14 days after knowledge of the injury and disability,” unless the claim was denied.
• After that: every two weeks, on the day set with the first payment.
• Late checks: a late TD payment is generally increased by 10%, and you don’t have to ask for it. There are limited exceptions: payments due before or within 14 days after you filed the claim form, salary continuation plans, and cases where the claims administrator can’t tell yet whether TD is owed and sends you the required written notice.
• Unreasonable delay or refusal can also support a separate penalty under Labor Code §5814.

For more on timing, see our explainer on Labor Code §4650.

By the numbers$1,764.11

Deadlines that affect TD

Deadline	Rule	Source
Filing proceedings with the WCAB	Generally 1 year from the date of injury, the end of the last TD payment period, or the last date medical treatment was provided	§5405
First TD payment	14 days after the employer knows of the injury and disability	§4650(a)
Ongoing TD	Every two weeks	§4650(c)
Total TD	104 compensable weeks within 5 years of injury (injuries on or after Jan. 1, 2008)	§4656(c)(2)
New and further disability	Within 5 years of the date of injury	§5410

---

Related sections

Section	What it covers
§4453	How average weekly earnings are computed, and the TD and PD minimums and maximums
§4654	Temporary partial disability: two-thirds of your weekly wage loss
§4652	The three-day waiting period
§4650	When TD checks are due and the 10% late-payment increase
§4656	The 104-week limit on TD
§4661.5	TD paid two or more years after injury uses current rates
§4658	Permanent disability payments after TD ends

---

How it plays out

💡 Example: Marcus, a hypothetical warehouse worker, hurts his shoulder in March 2026. He earns $24 an hour, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, so his AWE is 5 × $192 = $960. His TD rate is two-thirds of $960, or $640 a week, which is between the 2026 minimum and maximum. He is paid every two weeks, $1,280 per check. If he is off work for 12 weeks, his TD totals 12 × $640 = $7,680. A coworker earning $3,000 a week would get $1,764.11, not $2,000, because of the cap. A part-timer earning $300 a week would get the $264.61 minimum, not $200.

---

What to do if your TD rate looks wrong

Our temporary disability benefits page covers the full process. For the rate itself:

• Ask the claims administrator in writing how it calculated your average weekly earnings and which method it used.
• Gather pay stubs for the year before your injury, plus proof of earnings from any second job.
• Check that the right injury year’s minimum and maximum were used, and whether §4661.5 raised your rate after two years.
• Keep track of payment dates. A late check should come with the 10% increase unless one of the §4650(d) exceptions applies.

---

Frequently asked questions

Is TD two-thirds of my gross pay or my take-home pay?

Gross. The DWC describes TD as two-thirds of the gross, pre-tax wages you lose while recovering, within the minimum and maximum for your injury year.

What is the maximum TD rate in California for 2026?

$1,764.11 a week for injuries on or after January 1, 2026. The minimum is $264.61 a week.

Do I get paid for the first three days?

Only if your disability lasts more than 14 days or you are admitted to a hospital as an inpatient. In those cases, TD is owed from the first day.

I have two jobs. Does my second job count?

It can. Labor Code §4453(c)(2) adds earnings from all your jobs. Earnings from the other jobs are counted at no more than the hourly rate you were paid at the job where you were hurt.

Is TD taxable?

The DWC says TD is not subject to federal, state or local income tax.

---

Sources

• California Labor Code §4653
• California Labor Code §4453
• California Labor Code §4650
• California Labor Code §4652
• California Labor Code §4654
• California Labor Code §4656
• California Labor Code §4661.5
• DIR News Release 2025-116: 2026 TD rates (Nov. 21, 2025)
• DWC, Workers’ Compensation Benefits (rate chart)
• DWC, Temporary Disability Benefits

---