Workers’ Compensation

A Brief Overview of City of Ukiah’s Employee Workers’ Compensation Benefits:

Workers’ Compensation is a state-mandated benefit for workers injured on the job. The state-mandated Workers’ Compensation benefits include:

• Medical treatment reasonably required to help recover from the effects of the injury.
• Temporary Disability payments are paid if an injured worker loses time from work. However, safety employees such as police officers and firefighters may receive full salary in lieu of Temporary Disability benefits when disabled from a work related injury.  Generally, the temporary disability benefit is two thirds of the employee’s average weekly wage. However, the benefit rate is subject to minimum and maximum levels and is adjusted annually as established by the “State Average Weekly Wage.”
• Permanent Disability payments are paid if an injured worker has a permanent disability as the result of a work injury. The benefit amounts are set by law based on the severity of the disability.
• Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits may be available if the injured worker cannot return to the job she/he held at the time of injury.

What should you do if you get injured at work?

Notify your supervisor as soon as possible. If your injuries require medical treatment and you have not pre-designated a personal physician to treat you in case of a work injury, you must contact Ukiah Valley Medical Center/Job Care for an appointment at (707) 467-4994. Your supervisor will initiate the claim filing process.

How are Workers’ Compensation benefits paid for?

Smaller businesses or corporations usually buy Workers’ Compensation insurance. The business pays a premium, and the insurance company pays for the benefits provided when a worker sustains a work injury. The City of Ukiah, like most municipalities and many larger corporations, is self-insured for Workers’ Compensation up to a maximum limit. This means that we do not pay an insurance company to cover our Workers’ Compensation costs. These costs come out of the City’s budget. In fact, the cost of Workers’ Compensation claims are charged back to the annual budget of the department where the employee worked at the time of the injury.