Services

P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Services has been an industry leader for over 25 years in vocational counseling and is one of the leading organizations in helping injured workers utilize their vouchers.

Employees injured on or after January 1, 2013, who are permanently unable to do their usual and customary job and whose employer does not offer other work, qualify for the SJDB voucher. The voucher amount is $6,000 for all permanent disability ratings. Employees are eligible to receive their voucher after being declared Permanent and Stationary as they no longer have to wait until the date of their settlement to obtain this benefit.

The voucher is due 60 days after a treating doctor, Agreed Medical Evaluator (AME) or Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) declares the injured worker Permanent and Stationary and issues a report outlining the worker's residual functional capacities with the caveat being that the employer does not offer the injured worker a job.

California Labor Code 4658.7 states:

(a) This section shall apply to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2013

(b) If the injury causes permanent partial disability, the injured employee shall be entitled to a supplemental job displacement

benefit as provided in this section unless the employer makes an offer of regular, modified, or alternative work, as defined in Section 4658.1, that meets both of the following criteria:

(1) The offer is made no later than 60 days after receipt by the claims administrator of the first report received from either the primary treating physician, an agreed medical evaluator, or a qualified medical evaluator, in the form created by the administrative director pursuant to subdivision (h), finding that the disability from all conditions for which compensation is claimed has become permanent and stationary and that the injury has caused permanent partial disability.

(A) If the employer or claims administrator has provided the

physician with a job description of the employee's regular work, proposed modified work, or proposed alternative work, the physician shall evaluate and describe in the form whether the work capacities

and activity restrictions are compatible with the physical requirements set forth in that job description.

(B) The claims administrator shall forward the form to the employer for the purpose of fully informing the employer of work capacities and activity restrictions resulting from the injury that are relevant to potential regular, modified, or alternative work.

(2) The offer is for regular work, modified work, or alternative work lasting at least 12 months

(c) The supplemental job displacement benefit shall be offered to the employee within 20 days after the expiration of the time for making an offer of regular, modified, or alternative work pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).

(d) The supplemental job displacement benefit shall be in the form of a voucher redeemable as provided in this section up to an aggregate of six thousand dollars ($6,000).

(g) Settlement or commutation of a claim for the supplemental job displacement benefit shall not be permitted under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5000) or Chapter 3 (commencing with Section

5100) of Part 3.

Per California Labor Code 4658.7 injured employees are entitled to a $6,000.00 workers’ comp voucher if the QME, AME or PTP has deemed her a qualified injured worker and when they fill out a Physician’s Return-to-Work & Voucher Report (http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/forms/SJDB/10133.36.pdf).

P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Services assists injured workers with or without their vouchers. Call 559-554-9709 for additional information.

P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Services takes into consideration amenability to vocational rehabilitation and apportionment in all LeBoeuf LC 4662 Evaluations for claims for 100% disability in relation to SB 899 and SB 869. P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Services takes into consideration the Dahl decision [Contra Costa County v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (Daul) (2015) 240 Cal. App. 4^th 746, 80Cal. Comp. Cases 1119] which the court of appeal held that both Ogilvie and LeBouef required consideration of the effect of the injury on the injured worker’s ability to be vocationally rehabilitated. Each evaluation includes a comprehensive interview with the injured worker, vocational test battery, transferable skills analysis, review of medical records and ratings, addresses amenability to vocational rehabilitation, addresses apportionment and provides a comprehensive vocational expert report with supplemental reports, if necessary. 

P. Steve Ramirez, M.S.,CRC has been providing vocational services for over 25 years in the State of California. He has been deemed a Vocational Expert by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB). He has been qualified as an Expert in the Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Stockton, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Fresno WCAB venues.

Mr. Ramirez has completed over 500 LeBoeuf/Labor Code §4662 Evaluations and over 300 Diminished Future Earning Capacity Evaluations.

Mr. Ramirez has also been deemed an expert by the United States Social Security Administration and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor.

Mr. Ramirez has developed over 10,000 California Workers’ Compensation vocational rehabilitation plans (RU-102’s) prior to the repeal of vocational rehabilitation in 1/1/09.

Mr. Ramirez is a State Approved Vocational Return to Work Counselor with the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Diminished Future Earning Capacity and Diminished Labor Market Evaluations are utilized to quantify an injured worker’s diminished post injury labor market expressed as a percentage and based upon the requirements of Labor Code Section 4660, as amended by SB 899 and potentially rebut the permanent disability schedule.

When Senate Bill No. 899 was enacted, the established purpose of permanent disability was “to indemnify for impaired future earning capacity or decreased ability to compete in an open labor market.” The terms “diminished future earning capacity” and “ability to compete in an open labor market” suggest to us no meaningful difference.

For these type of evaluations P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Services will take into account not wages but instead diminished labor market access. Access to the labor market of an injured worker pre-injury and then access to the labor market post-injury. Which may or may not potentially rebut the permanent disability schedule or support the schedule.