Retirement and WC

[brown eyes]

Hi I am new here nice to meet you all
California

My husband was hurt on the job last May, he has had sugery and is still recovering, his dr. that has been caring for him is now saying there is nothing more he can do. His rotator cuff was torn very bad. And it still is not quite right. Our question if, anyone can help with an answer is this. He has been with this company for 25 years and it has been difficult working there for a couple of years, he has applied for medicare an is of full retirement age, He has a 401K but can not move it until he no longer works for this company, Our bottom line question is can he quit and retire ( he still wants to work when he has recovered) and will this action hurt his WC claim?? Or will the claim remain in force until he is fully recovered?? We want to move his 401k from control of this comp. but do not want to hurt his WC claim.
Thanks

[rholmes]

brown eyes Wrote:Hi I am new here nice to meet you all
California

My husband was hurt on the job last May, he has had sugery and is still recovering, his dr. that has been caring for him is now saying there is nothing more he can do. His rotator cuff was torn very bad. And it still is not quite right. Our question if, anyone can help with an answer is this. He has been with this company for 25 years and it has been difficult working there for a couple of years, he has applied for medicare an is of full retirement age, He has a 401K but can not move it until he no longer works for this company, Our bottom line question is can he quit and retire ( he still wants to work when he has recovered) and will this action hurt his WC claim?? Or will the claim remain in force until he is fully recovered?? We want to move his 401k from control of this comp. but do not want to hurt his WC claim.
Thanks

Hi Brown,

I really don't think one has anything to do with the other, but I could be wrong. w/c covers you as long as the doctor says you are not able to work, it doesn't matter if he is still with the company If I were you I would talk to an attorney. But I have a 401 and a 457 and it has never come up in my w/c claim.

Good luck

[1171]

Technically it's a claim, against the employer rather then coverage of the worker. As long as he was employed on the date of injury he has right to bring a claim against employer.
There is some caselaw that prohibits a retired worker from claiming temporary disabillity. There also is a 15% +/- adjustment to the PD benefit if employer offers modified work. this would also be affected by an employees retirement. Medical benefits would be unaffected.

[frustratediw]

I did retire as a result of my injury. Actually I was more or less forced to. That has had no effect on the WC claim. I still receive medical care. I did get PPD and that continued even after I retired until it was paid in full. My retirement had no effect on the PPD amount. TTD is different and in my case it had stopped prior to me retiring. So yes the claim will remain in force until such time as he recovers or you are offered and accept a C&R settlement and give up future medical benefits.

[1171]

frustrated:
like most states california work comp rules are tied to your date of injury. the benefits available to one in the past may not be the same for eveyone all time.
My response is based on current law

[frustratediw]

Thank you 1171.
This I understand and my claim was under the new regulations in SB899. I did receive the 15% addition to my PD because my employer did not offer any work within the 60 days. My actual retirement date was after that time frame but while I was still collecting the PPD. In my case I had submitted all of my retirement paperwork just prior to attending an AME and being found P&S. I was anticipating the outcome of the AME and trying to cover all of my bases. The fact that they would not discuss modified work was a major force in my final retirement decision. Had I retired while collecting TTD then yes those payments would have ceased. As with most issues with WC timing is critical.

Your response infers that I somehow disagreed with you. Not the case. Perhaps the bit more detail I have provided above will clarify this. I am just trying to point out to brown eyes that there are others who have had to address this very difficult decision.

[1171]

right.
the details do help clarify.
retirement did affect your PD and the work comp claim -- not the amount but the timing.
I think brown is interested in if it affects the claim and if so how.
and we should be clear in our responses that it does.