If A Work Injury Occurs...

  1. Notify your supervisor of the incident.  If this is a life or limb threatening injury immediately call 911.
  2. You will immediately call Company Nurse at: 877-278-4041.
    You should seek assistance from your supervisor, if needed.
  3. The Company Nurse will gather pertinent information and guide you to the appropriate medical care.
  4. The Company Nurse will submit your workers’ compensation claim to the Third-Party Claim Administrator (TPA), who will contact you within one (1) business day of receipt of your claim.

California law guarantees certain benefits to employees who are injured or become ill because of their jobs.

Any job-related injury is covered, even first-aid type injuries and work-related illnesses.  The key is whether it was caused by the job.  Injuries from voluntary, off-duty, recreational, social or athletic activity-for example, the company bowling team, may not be covered.  Check with your Supervisor or the TPA listed below if you have questions.

Workers' Compensation Benefits Include:

  1. Medical Care
    All medical treatment for a work injury is covered, with no deductible or dollar limit.  Medical costs are paid directly by the TPA and include mileage and parking reimbursement. For more information, please use this link to the State website:https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/medicalcare.htm

    The TPA will arrange for medical treatment with an approved doctor who is on the roster of the County Medical Provider Network (MPN). You can access this roster at https://intelleserver.com/smcmpn/ . You can call the Medical Access Assistant at 877-238-4965 with your questions regarding the MPN.

    If you had pre-designated your personal physician prior to your injury and the fully executed Predesignation of Personal Physician form is on file with the County, you can be treated by your personal physician.  The Predesignation of Personal Physician form is found at: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/forms.html#Pre-Designation  Contact Risk Management or the TPA for more information.

  2. Temporary Disability
    If you are temporarily disabled by a work injury or illness, you will receive tax-free wages (temporary disability) until your treating doctor says that you are able to return to work.  Payments are not made for the first three days that you are temporarily disabled unless you are hospitalized as an inpatient or unable to work more than 14 days. Payments to you are paid by the TPA at two-thirds ( 2/3) of your average weekly wages, up to a maximum set by the State.   These numbers are reviewed by the State annually and may be adjusted.  For more information, please use this link to the State website:  https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/TemporaryDisability.htm

  3. Return to Work
    After an injury or illness, returning to work safely and promptly can help with your recovery. The concept of returning employees to work as soon as medically feasible under a temporary modified work assignment, if they cannot return to their regular work, is an underlying philosophy of the workers’ compensation system.  For specific county information, please see Workers' Compensation Intranet page.

    Please use this link to the State website:
    https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/ReturnToWork.htm

  4. Permanent Disability or Death
    If your work injury or illness results in permanent disability, additional payments, as set by the State, will be paid to you by the TPA.  The length of time that you will receive these payments is determined by your percentage of permanent disability. This number is reviewed by the State annually and may be adjusted.  For specific county information, please see Workers' Compensation Intranet page.

    Please use this link to the State website:  https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/PermanentDisability.htm
    If the work injury or illness results in death, benefits will be paid to surviving dependents by the TPA based upon specific criteria established by the
    State.

    To review these benefits, please use this link to the State website:     https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/WorkersCompensationBenefits.htm#DeathBenefits

  5. Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit-SJDB (Voucher)
    If the job injury or illness prevents you from returning to your usual job, and a modified job or alternative work is not available, you may qualify for a supplemental job displacement benefit voucher (SJDB) to be used for job retraining.  If so, the TPA will send this voucher to you with a written explanation of how the voucher dollars can be spent.

    For more information regarding this program, please use this link to the State website:      https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/sjdb.html.

  6. Return-to-Work Supplement Program
    The State also offers an additional program benefit that injured workers with a date of injury on or after January 1, 2013 and who have received a SJDB Voucher for that injury can apply to receive through the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) website by completing their online application. https://www.dir.ca.gov/RTWSP/RTWSP.html

For more information regarding workers’ compensation benefits, you can use this link to the State of California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) website:https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/

If you have questions or need information about workers’ compensation and you would like to speak with someone,  you can contact an Information and Assistance Officer at the State Division of Workers’ Compensation by telephone at 800-736-7401 or at the local office listed below:

            455 Golden Gate Avenue
            San Francisco, CA 
            415-703-5011

The County has contracted with Athens Administrators to serve as Third Party Administrator (TPA) to handle the County workers’ compensation claims.  You can contact Athens by telephone with questions also.  Their contact information is:

            Athens Administrators, Inc.
            P.O. 696
            Concord, CA 94522
            866-482-3535

WARNING: WORKERS’ COMPENSATION FRAUD IS A FELONY.

Anyone who knowingly files or assists in the filing of a false workers’ compensation claim may be fined up to $150,000 or double the value of the fraud, whichever is greater, sent to prison for up to (5) five years and shall be ordered to pay restitution. ( California Insurance Code Section 1871.4)

Employees should use the Intranet link below to review County specific workers’ compensation information.