As of today I am out on injury for a while. I work for cal fire and am curious if my pay gets cut or anything? Or do I get my full salary? I am part of the union if that helps.
Being part of the Union has no bearing.
It depends on if the injury was during an emergency incident or not. If so, it can be enhanced IDL. If not, then yes you will make a little less on IDL
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Also, ask your personnel specialist. They will
Have the exact info you need. Don’t depend on this site for workers comp policy advice.
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I agree with Firedog1 on this, a reach out to HR is a must. That is what they are there for. Get all your questions answered, that is your right as an employee.
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Get some supplemental insurance for these sort of things. I have a good guy lots in our dept use. PM is interested in his name. It wont cover this injury but stuff down the line it will.
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Gotcha. Thanks everyone for replying. I will reach out to my HR right now.
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From experience…be aware not all HR people are up on what happens or what the ramifications will be to your pay. In addition, CF has hired a bunch of (local unit) HR people lately and they are not all up to speed. The state HR people are even more clueless because they don’t understand our schedule. In regards to IDL, I believe recent legislation (I’ll have to dig it up) designated enhanced IDL for all injuries on the job, incident related or not.
That is a BIG thing (thank your union). As before you would receive approx 2/3 your salary (unless you augmented it with your own leave credits). With enhanced IDL what occurs is they take what you were earning, deduct all the assumed deductions for taxes/retirement, etc, and that is the amount you’ll receive (which is non taxable at the end of the year).
This is better than it was, but in my case I wound up “losing” money because of a quirk (I had substantial contributions pre-injury (maxed) to my 401k and 457). With enhanced IDL, you’ll also lose the ability to contribute to your 401K/457 since you’ll be receiving tax free money already.
PM me if you want more info about my experience.
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Labor Code section 4850 applies to any duty injury. The employer is required to pay your base salary for up to a year (what was on your job flyer or employment document), but you may lose “planned” overtime. Supplemental insurance is always wise.
Planned OT is not lost for CalFire BU8 employees. At least it wasn’t for me (a few years ago).
Supplemental insurance is good for off the job injuries, but with enhanced IDL it has no bearing for on the job injuries. It usually only covers the the income drop. You can can get straight injury insurance but that is basically gambling, and the house always wins. I had the supplemental when I was first started out, but after accruing an acceptable amount of leave credits I dropped it as it was relatively pricey for the benefits (you usually have to use up a good chunk of your credits before it activates).
So, the big question is on duty or off duty injury? There will be a difference in how that works out for you.
I am going to assume this is an on duty injury. If so, you should get enhanced IDL no matter how your injury occurred. This was enacted by legislation a year or so ago and is also part of the bargaining unit 8 MOU. You should get your full pay and your planned OT (EDWC).
But, as others have said, you need to contact your unit return to work coordinator, unit personnel specialist, and supervisor to get your questions answered. And write your questions down before you contact them so you stay on track. Information from anyone on this site is only “advice”.
As a fellow CAL FIRE employee of 30 + years I will give you this advice - do EXACTLY what your doctors tell you to do (or not do). 99% of us just want to get back to work but you can more damage trying to rush that ( I speak from personal experience). You also have the right to a second opinion if you feel it is warranted.
If you need any other advice, please PM me.
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Having gone through a on the job back injury that turned into a long term injury…
Listen to the Chief above…
Document everything and keep everything that they send you
100% know that state workers comp is NOT on your side and will try to to screw you. Do not be afraid to contact an attorney. You can ask for a different doctor. Being a seasonal employee or newer perm employee does not preclude you from being treated correctly.
You need to be your own advocate
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Thank you Chief and everyone else for the input and taking the time to reply. This injury did occur on duty. Should hopefully only take a few weeks of PT to get healed up. I will do as you guys are recommending and contact my HR. Stay safe this season everyone.
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If it’s a long term type injury that occurred while working your first move is to find a good Workman’s Comp. Attorney to protect your interests. The post earlier that said State Comp. is not your friend is the very best advice given. I’ve been retired since 2006 from Cal Fire from a serious back injury that exacerbated over time. After 5 major back surgeries I’m doing O.K. today but had to fight for everything in my case. Keep every piece of paper and file in a binder. That’s the only thing that saved my bacon is that I had every document and every Dr.'s report. They will sometimes give you some hastle but you have every right to every report and document. You will hear “no” a lot from SCIF. Don’t stop there. Fight for everything. That’s what your attorney is for. He/She is your advocate. I eventually settled out with SCIF but that was a fight as well. Good Luck and read your reports and know everything about your injury.
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Agree with most of what is posted here. Just approach it as though the system is set up to discourage you from accessing the benefits you are entitled to (which it is).
Since your original question was about your paycheck (and you gave additional info regarding severity and on/off the job) hopefully I can give you a little reassurance. Unless it was changed by the recent legislation (possible) you will have no change to your paycheck until you are off duty (for the injury) for more than approx 23 days. I forget what the exact number is. Until you are off that long you “should” have no change to your paycheck. i.e If you are off duty for 3 weeks, then on light duty assignment for another 3 weeks your paycheck remains the same.
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Tumbleweed the insurance we have through CO Bankers will pay you on duty or not for an injury/illness. Doesnt care about your wages loss or otherwise. If anyone is interested let me know. I dont work for the company but have been a customer for years and have seen some legit payouts from guys hurt on and off the job.
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Affirm, that’s straight injury insurance. But as I mentioned, it’s basically gambling. I bet X$ that I’m going to be injured, if I hit it my number then I get a big payoff. But the house always wins, some people will get the payoff but most will not and lose $$. Might as well go up to Tahoe once a month and bet it on black. Supp insurance is tied to working status, and is actually a “good” bet when you first start off. You basically want to have some income to cover your bills in case you hurt yourself skiing or what not. You just usually don’t need it after you have accrued enough leave credits to cover your loss of income (or what you feel comfortable with).
Edit: Let me add this view is based upon CA state employment and a local gov’t I worked for. Different local gov’t and the Feds might present different issues that you’d have to look into to see if the options/abilities/leave credits/etc might change the calculations.
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Hello, in regards to your question I have been in the fire service for 34 years I have worked for the state as a full time engineer. And 4 other fire departments. I have seen the entire spectrum of workers comp. It was user friendly years ago. In a system that was user friendly of course who do you think would lets say ( bend the rules) of course fireman. When governor Arnold the actor was in office he changed how the system worked.(this made it non user friendly). Example. We had a full arrest and we brought back the lady, my medic ff rode in the ambulance. We drive code 2 to pick him up. Enroute I hear a scream on the radio. It was the ambulance from our call that was t boned at an intersection. We respond. The ff and medic and pt that were in the back were trapped. The injuries that were sustained were what appeared to be head injuries to my ff. Guess what you will never believe.
Workers comp denied the claim…the one thing I tell new guys is pre designate your own doctor(you are allowed to do this). Ask some of the older dudes. Do you guys have a good comp attorney. You can pick your own. It doesn’t cost you anything upfront. If you are awarded damages at the end of your case the attorney has to follow state guidelines on the percentage he or she takes. Ask other people dont take my word for it. Educate yourself and be your own advocate. At the end of the day all of us are a number and can and will be replaced.
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