Website Updates

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Jun
12
2009
Case Law, PDRater, Vocational Rehabilitation, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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WCAB: Throwing babies out with the bathwater since 1965
The WCAB: Throwing babies out with the bathwater since 1965

For context, its best to see the prior post about the WCAB’s Weiner v. Ralph’s (en banc) decision.  There’s even a link to the Weiner v. Ralphs (en banc) decision for download – just so you can play along at home.

The question in the title of the post is really a question about the WCAB’s rationale – not their end legal justification behind Weiner.  I believe the Weiner case hints that the WCAB is going to go the other way and uphold their rulings in Almaraz/Guzman and Ogilvie.

However, I think the WCAB’s rationale for ending vocational rehabilitation was because of the potential for enormous retroactive vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance awards at the temporary total disability rate outside the cap (VRTD).12

  1. Photo courtesy of Stephane Raymond [↩]
  2. You see, I’m suggesting that the bathwater is VRTD and the baby itself is vocational rehabilitation.  Kinda kills the metaphor, eh? [↩]
Jun
12
2009
Not Workers Compensation, Open Source, PDRater, Website Updates, Wordpress

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Wordpress Upgrade
Wordpress Upgrade

Last night I updated this website to use WordPress v2.8.  There’s a lot of new features under the hood.  One that I really like is the ability to browse new website themes.

The calculators should all be completely impervious to changes in WordPress.  However, its theoretically possible you might notice a little bit of weirdness in how the rest of the website looks/acts.  If so, please drop me a line and let me know so I can look into it.

Enjoy!

Jun
11
2009
Case Law, PDRater, Vocational Rehabilitation, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Weiner v. Ralphs spells the end of rehab
Weiner v. Ralphs spells the end of rehab

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board recently solicited amicus briefs regarding the Weiner v. Ralphs case.  After review of the amicus briefs on the topic of the repeal of Labor Code Section 139.5 and vocational rehabilitation, the WCAB has just issued their en banc opinion.1

Download a copy of Weiner v. Ralphs (en banc) right here:

Obviously, you’ll need to read and interpret Weiner v. Ralph’s for yourself.  Here’s the Board’s own summary:

  1. The repeal of section 139.5 terminated any rights to vocational rehabilitation benefits or services pursuant to orders or awards that were not final before January 1, 2009
  2. A saving clause was not adopted to protect vocational rehabilitation rights in cases still pending on or after January 1, 2009
  3. The vocational rehabilitation statutes that were repealed in 2003 do not continue to function as “ghost statutes” on or after January 1, 2009
  4. Effective January 1, 2009, the WCAB lost jurisdiction over non-vested and inchoate vocational rehabilitation claims, but the WCAB continues to have jurisdiction under sections 5502(b)(3) and 5803 to enforce or terminate vested rights; and
  5. Subject matter jurisdiction over non-vested and inchoate vocational rehabilitation claims cannot be conferred by waiver, estoppel, stipulation, or consent.

What does Weiner v. Ralph’s mean to you?

  1. Vocational rehabilitation is gone unless there is a “vested” right by way order that became final prior to 1/1/2009.
  2. If you already have a final order for vocational rehabilitation, the WCAB can still hear a dispute.
  1. Photo courtesy of larryfishkorn [↩]
Jun
7
2009
AJAX, Calculators, Cell Phones, EAMS, Free, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Up, dates!
Up, dates!

Unfortunately, one of the coolest features of my calculators is that some of them will give you the answer you’re looking for before you’ve even finished typing the search term.  This works with the:

While these are all very cool while you’re sitting at your computer, I found out (much to my dismay) that this system didn’t work at all when using these online calculators from my cell phone! 1 Well, I’ve updated the calculators to make them more compatible with more phones.2

Save yourself from your own workers’ compensation claim and just leave that heavy rating manual at home.

  1. It has to do with cross-browser compatibility and inconsistent support for javascript events.  I doubt anyone is interested in this. [↩]
  2. Photo courtesy of Hunda [↩]
May
18
2009
1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Author, Calculators, Cell Phones, Combined Values Chart, DFEC Rebuttal, Free, Ogilvie, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Permanent disability calculators that will fit in your pocket!
Permanent disability calculators that will fit in any pocket!

I was at the San Jose WCAB on Friday.  Since recently discovering that I could run this website’s permanent disability rating calculators from my phone’s web browser, this was the first time I left my rating manual, money chart, and date wheel in the car.1

It was great.  That morning I used my phone to:

  • Find the ADJ number associated with the legacy SJO number on my file
  • Calculate an Ogilvie adjustment of a rating string
  • Calculate the number days between two dates
  • Perform old and new schedule ratings
  • Perform a CVC (combined values chart) calculation2

The benefit for me is not so much that I don’t have to carry the rating manuals, dollar value charts, and date wheels.  Unlike these tools, my phone is not something I’m going to misplace or loan and never see again.

The best part is that if I want to refer back to the calculation I just performed, I can just e-mail it to myself!

  1. Photo courtesy of .robbie [↩]
  2. Oh, and I called my client at one point.  Ha! [↩]
May
13
2009
1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, AJAX, Average Weekly Wage, Calculators, Cell Phones, Free, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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This phone will not run PDRater calculators, but yours might!
This phone will not run PDRater calculators, but yours might!

I recently discovered that installing the Opera Mini web browser on my “smartphone” has allowed me to run this website’s workers’ compensation calculators from my phone.1

Since launching this website I’ve given a lot of thought to support for cell phones.  There just are not many phones that can run these calculators.2 The glaring and notable exception is the iPhone.

Amusingly, one of this website’s users has asked for an “iPhone app” version of this site.  Seriously, you’ve got one of the few phones that can use this site and that’s not good enough for you?  (Thanks Chris!)

This is huge.  It means:

  • I can blog from the Board3
  • More importantly, no more bulky money charts or rating manuals at the Board!
  1. Photo courtesy of storm gal [↩]
  2. It would be more correct to say there are not many phones that support javascript and AJAX well enough to interact with this website in a meaningful fashion. [↩]
  3. Probably a lot more interesting for me than it is for you… [↩]
Apr
20
2009
Calculators, Downloads, Free, Marketing, PDRater, Subscription Features, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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PDRater: No Bills!
PDRater: No Bills!

To this day, most of the e-mails I receive are from people asking me some variation of “No, really, how much does it cost to use these calculators? When am I going to be charged? What’s the catch?”

I intend to keep all the calculators free for anyone who cares to use them. I have built this website because I really do enjoy the hell out of blogging about tech stuff and workers’ comp law, dissecting complex workers’ compensation math formulas, and building something useful to myself and other professionals. This is quite literally how I spend my free time. I’m just that nerdy.

Apr
14
2009
Case Law, PDRater, Vocational Rehabilitation, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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The WCAB is soliciting suggestions on vocational rehabilitation
The WCAB is soliciting input on vocational rehabilitation

The WCAB has just issued an “Order Allowing Amicus Briefs” (en banc) in the Weiner v. Ralph’s Company case.1 The Weiner case is about the effect of the legislature’s repeal of Labor Code Section 139.5 as of January 1, 2009.  The repeal of this statute may have the effect of terminating all rights to vocational rehabilitation.

For the curious, you can download a copy of the Order Allowing Amicus Briefs (en banc) here:

The Board is allowing until May 11, 2009 for any interested party to file their own amicus brief on these Weiner vocational rehabiltiation issues.

  1. Photo courtesy of Mathoov [↩]
Apr
1
2009
2005 PDRS, Calculators, Ogilvie, PDRater, Permanent Partial Disability, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Thank you for the feedback!
Thank you for the feedback!

I was recently sent feedback about the Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculator on this website. 1  Here’s how I’ve incorporated that feedback:

  1. Inputs. The calculator results repeats the inputs with the results.  This ensures that the answer provided gives you enough context when showing the calculation to the other side or when you go back to review your file.
  2. Email. You can now e-mail your calculations to yourself.
  3. Links. I’ve added a link to the various Employment Development Department and U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics inside the calculator itself.  It doesn’t automatically obtain the information, but hopefully you will find this helpful.

There are two other issues I’m thinking about:

  1. An easy way to pull up the FEC rank of a particular body part.  Its kind of a pain to look up the body part, find the FEC rank, and then enter that into the calculator.  I’m thinking ways to simplify this process.  This shouldn’t be too bad to write.
  2. Rating using the Ogilvie DFEC adjusted whole person impairment.  This one will prove to be a difficult one to write in an intuitive fashion.

How would you change these calculators?  What else would you like to see?  What do you hate about them?  Shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment!

  1. Photo courtesy of biketrouble [↩]
Mar
31
2009
Calculators, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Re-ordering can be good!
Re-ordering can be good!

You may have noticed a few cosmetic changes in the look of the workers’ compensation calculators. 1 It turns out that some of the calculators are getting a LOT more use than others.

  1. In order to make them a easier to use, I’ve re-ordered all of the calculators in rough order of popularity. 2 Hopefully you’ll find this helpful.  Eventually I plan to separate out all of the EAMS related search functions from the actual benefits calculators.
  2. I’ve found that when you click to expand a calculators it would cause the entire page to scroll to the top.  I’ve fixed this.

Send me an e-mail and let me know or leave a comment!

  1. Photo courtesy of Sock Monkey Photography [↩]
  2. This change only affects the order in which you see the calculators and has nothing to do with how they work. [↩]