Never be without a schedule of California’s permanent disability values again. The iComp Calculator by Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP displays the compensation rate and permanent disability value for any date of injury after 1983. You provide the average weekly earnings and it calculates the TTD rate and PD rate. You provide the percentage of permanent disability; the App calculates the number of weeks of payment, the lump sum value of permanent disability and, where appropriate, the life pension weekly rate for percentages up to 99.75%. You can’t inadvertently use a permanent disability rate out of range for the date of injury, because the application shows the range permitted for each disability percentage and date.
This tool replaces all the charts and folders practitioners have had to carry around to obtain permanent disability values in California’s complex system. The calculator is a short-cut that makes PD charts and tables obsolete. And, it works off-line! Try it free for 30 days from the iTunes store at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icomp-calculator/id704045365?mt=8, then purchase it for $4.99 if you want to continue to use it to save time and effort. The App will be updated with the 2014 rates before the end of 2013.
Caution is of course required when using the App, and no legal opinion is expressed in providing this application or the results it returns. Each user remains entirely and solely responsible for the proper use of the application, for confirming that the data used is accurate, and for confirming that the answers provided by the application conform to all the applicable provisions of the California Labor Code. Neither Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP nor TZT&C LLC warrant the accuracy of the results nor the proper use of the application. No liability will be assumed by the publisher, writer or sponsor of the application for its proper use or accuracy.
FAQs:
1. I need help on how to use the App, how do I get instructions?
Please send your questions regarding operating the App to tpenny@hbblaw.com.
2. I have problems loading the App or it keeps hanging up on my iPhone or iPad, where can I go for technical advice?
Please send your technical questions about operating the App in the iOS environment to glazed4@yahoo.com.
3. I have a question about California workers’ compensation law, can you help me?
Please direct all questions about workers’ compensation law to tpenny@hbblaw.com.
4. Does the App calculate the life pension rate for the years following December 31 of the year in which the Life Pension starts?
No. The law provides that “For injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2003, an employee who becomes entitled to receive a life pension or total permanent disability indemnity . . . shall have that payment increased annually commencing on January 1, 2004, and each January 1 thereafter . . .”. Labor Code Section 4659(c). The App does not contain the data nor do the calculation for applying that increase.
5. Will the App reflect future changes in permanent disability?
Yes. The data to provide the permanent disability for each year after the year of purchase will be available to all paid App subscribers on or before January 1 of that year.
6. I would like to retain your firm to represent my company in a workers’ compensation matter, who should I contact?
Please direct all inquires for representation to tpenny@hbblaw.com.