In this guide13 sections
- What Labor Code §4660 says
- Who §4660 covers
- Watch: injured at work in California
- How a pre-2013 rating is built under the 2005 PDRS
- How §4660 differs from §4660.1
- Exceptions and challenges
- What a pre-2013 rating is worth
- Deadlines
- Related sections
- How it plays out
- What to do with a pre-2013 rating
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
Labor Code §4660 sets how permanent disability (PD) is rated for California work injuries that happened before January 1, 2013. Your rating accounts for the nature of your injury, your occupation, your age when you were hurt, and your diminished future earning capacity. For most injuries from 2005 through 2012, it is applied through the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule (PDRS). Injuries on or after January 1, 2013 are rated under Labor Code §4660.1 instead.
The statute itself now opens with the line “This section shall only apply to injuries occurring before January 1, 2013.” That doesn’t make it a dead letter. Older claims that are still open are rated under it, and the 2005 schedule adopted under §4660 still supplies the occupation and age adjustments for newer injuries. This page explains each subdivision, how a pre-2013 rating is built, how it differs from the 2013 rules, and what it is worth. For a broader walk-through of the rating schedule, see our PDRS guide.
- Labor Code §4660 governs permanent disability ratings only for injuries before January 1, 2013. Later injuries fall under §4660.1.
- A §4660 rating accounts for the nature of the injury, your occupation, your age at injury and your diminished future earning capacity.
- Under the 2005 PDRS, each impairment gets a future earning capacity rank from 1 to 8, with factors from 1.1 to 1.4, instead of the flat 1.4 used for 2013-and-later injuries.
- The schedule is prima facie evidence of disability, so a rating can be challenged with other evidence.
- For injuries from 2006 through 2012, PD is paid at $130 to $230 a week for ratings under 70% (§4453(b)).
What Labor Code §4660 says
| Part | What it says (paraphrased) |
|---|---|
| Opening line | The section applies only to injuries before January 1, 2013. This line was added by SB 863 (Stats. 2012, ch. 363), effective January 1, 2013. |
| (a) | A PD percentage takes into account the nature of the physical injury or disfigurement, your occupation, and your age at the time of injury, “consideration being given to an employee’s diminished future earning capacity.” |
| (b)(1) | The “nature of the physical injury or disfigurement” uses the descriptions and percentages of impairment in the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5th Edition. |
| (b)(2) | Diminished future earning capacity is “a numeric formula based on empirical data and findings,” drawing on the RAND Institute for Civil Justice’s December 2003 interim report on California’s rating schedule. |
| (c) | The DWC Administrative Director must amend the schedule “at least once every five years.” The schedule is “prima facie evidence of the percentage of permanent disability” for each injury it covers. |
| (d) | The schedule must promote consistency, uniformity and objectivity. It applies prospectively, to injuries on or after the date a schedule or amendment is adopted, with a transitional rule for claims arising before January 1, 2005 (below). |
| (e) | The Administrative Director had to adopt implementing regulations on or before January 1, 2005. |
Who §4660 covers
- Injuries from 2005 through 2012: rated under the 2005 PDRS.
- Injuries before 2005: the 2005 schedule applies only under the transitional rule in subdivision (d). That is when there has been “no comprehensive medical-legal report or no report by a treating physician indicating the existence of permanent disability,” or when the employer was not required to give the injured worker the notice under §4061. Otherwise, the schedule in effect before 2005 generally applies.
- Cumulative trauma: the date of injury is set by Labor Code §5412. That is the date you first suffered disability and knew, or should have known, it was caused by work. It decides whether §4660 or §4660.1 applies.
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 a pre-2013 rating is built under the 2005 PDRS
The 2005 PDRS turns a doctor’s impairment finding into a final rating in a fixed order. The schedule shows each step in a “rating string”:
- Impairment number and whole person impairment (WPI): the doctor rates the impairment under the AMA Guides, 5th Edition.
- Future earning capacity (FEC) adjustment: each impairment is assigned an FEC rank from 1 to 8. The ranks carry adjustment factors from 1.1 (a 10% increase) to 1.4 (a 40% increase).
- Occupational adjustment: your job is placed in one of 45 numbered occupational groups. Each impairment then gets a variant letter from C to J. F reflects average demands, C through E lesser demands, and G through J greater demands.
- Age adjustment: the rating is adjusted for your age on the date of injury. The schedule’s standard assumes an average worker age of 39.
- Combine and apportion: multiple impairments are combined into one rating, and any apportionment under §4663 is applied.
A wrong FEC rank, occupational group or injury date can cost you weeks of permanent disability. We can review the full rating string.
How §4660 differs from §4660.1
| Issue | §4660 (injuries before 2013) | §4660.1 (injuries on or after Jan. 1, 2013) |
|---|---|---|
| Impairment measure | AMA Guides, 5th Edition | AMA Guides, 5th Edition |
| Earning capacity step | FEC rank 1–8, factor 1.1 to 1.4, depending on the impairment | A flat 1.4 multiplier on WPI |
| Occupation and age | 2005 PDRS | 2005 PDRS modifiers, until the schedule is amended |
| Limits on psychiatric, sleep and sexual dysfunction add-ons | None written into §4660 | No added impairment for these when they arise out of a physical injury, with a narrow psychiatric exception |
| PD weekly rate (§4453(b)) | Injuries 2006–2012: $130–$230 a week for ratings under 70%; $130–$270 for 70% to under 100% | Injuries 2014 and later: $160–$290 a week for any rating under 100% |
Exceptions and challenges
Because subdivision (c) makes the schedule “prima facie evidence” of disability, a rating produced by the schedule is a starting point that can be challenged with other evidence. In practice, disputes over pre-2013 ratings often involve the doctor’s choice of AMA Guides tables, the FEC rank tied to the impairment number, the occupational group used for your job, and apportionment. Medical disputes go through the QME or AME process under §4061 and §4062.
What a pre-2013 rating is worth
- Weeks of PD: Labor Code §4658(d) sets the weeks for injuries on or after January 1, 2005. It uses the same bands that apply to 2013-and-later injuries (3 weeks for each 1% up to 9.75%, rising to 16 weeks for each 1% from 70% to 99.75%), counted cumulatively.
- Weekly rate: two-thirds of average weekly earnings within the §4453(b) limits for your injury date. For injuries from January 1, 2006, average weekly earnings count between $195 and $345 for ratings under 70%, and between $195 and $405 for ratings of 70% to under 100%.
- 15% adjustments: under §4658(d)(2)–(3), if an employer with 50 or more employees does not offer regular, modified or alternative work lasting at least 12 months within 60 days after your condition becomes permanent and stationary, the remaining payments go up 15%. If it makes a qualifying offer within that time, payments from the date of the offer go down 15%.
- Higher ratings: ratings of 70% or more add a life pension under §4659, and 100% is permanent total disability.
Deadlines
| Deadline | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First PD payment | Within 14 days after the last TD payment, with exceptions when qualifying work is offered | §4650(b) |
| Later PD payments | Every two weeks; late payments are generally increased by 10% | §4650(c)–(d) |
| New and further disability | Within 5 years of the date of injury; for any injury before 2013, that period has now run | §5410 |
Related sections
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| §4660.1 | PD ratings for injuries on or after January 1, 2013 (the 1.4 multiplier) |
| §4658 | Weeks of PD for each rating, and the 15% adjustments that can apply to 2005–2012 injuries |
| §4453 | PD weekly minimums and maximums by injury date |
| §4663 | Apportionment of PD by cause |
| §4659 | Life pension and permanent total disability |
| §4061 | Disputes over PD findings |
| §5412 | Date of injury for cumulative trauma |
How it plays out
💡 Example: The 2005 PDRS uses this sample rating string for a cervical spine soft-tissue injury: 15.01.02.02 – 8 – [5]10 – 470H – 13 – 11%. The doctor found 8% WPI. FEC rank 5 raises it to 10%. Occupational group 470, variant H, raises it to 13%. The age adjustment for a 30-year-old brings the final rating to 11%. Say that worker, hypothetically, was hurt in 2010 while earning $900 a week. An 11% rating is paid for 34.25 weeks (29.25 weeks for the first 9.75%, plus 5 more quarter-points at 4 weeks per 1%). Because $900 is above the $345 cap for ratings under 70%, the PD rate is two-thirds of $345, or $230 a week. 34.25 × $230 = $7,877.50, before any 15% adjustment under §4658(d) or apportionment.
What to do with a pre-2013 rating
Our PDRS guide and our page on what a PD rating is worth cover the process in detail. In short: confirm your date of injury (including the §5412 date for cumulative trauma), check that the 2005 schedule’s FEC rank, occupational group and age were used rather than the 1.4 multiplier, and look at whether a 15% adjustment applies. Then have the full rating string reviewed before you settle.
Frequently asked questions
Does Labor Code 4660 apply to my injury?
Only if your date of injury is before January 1, 2013. Injuries on or after that date are rated under §4660.1.
What is the 2005 PDRS?
It is the Permanent Disability Rating Schedule the DWC adopted under §4660, dated January 2005. It rates impairment under the AMA Guides, 5th Edition, and adjusts for future earning capacity, occupation and age. Its occupation and age adjustments are still used for 2013-and-later injuries.
What is the FEC adjustment?
FEC stands for future earning capacity. Under the 2005 PDRS, each impairment has an FEC rank from 1 to 8, with factors from 1.1 to 1.4. For injuries on or after January 1, 2013, the DWC replaced the FEC step with a flat 1.4 multiplier.
Does the 1.4 multiplier apply to my 2011 injury?
No. The flat 1.4 multiplier comes from §4660.1 and applies only to injuries on or after January 1, 2013. A 2011 injury uses the FEC rank for the specific impairment.
Can I reopen a pre-2013 case for new and further disability?
Labor Code §5410 allows petitions for new and further disability “within five years after the date of the injury.” For an injury before 2013, that five-year window has now closed. Other ways of revisiting an award have their own rules, so talk to a lawyer about your specific case.
Sources
- California Labor Code §4660
- California Labor Code §4660.1
- California Labor Code §4658
- California Labor Code §4453
- California Labor Code §4650
- California Labor Code §5410
- DWC, Permanent Disability Rating Schedule (January 2005)
- DWC, Workers’ Compensation Benefits (rating and rate charts)
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