Modified or Alternative Work After a California Injury: Restrictions, Offers, and the SJDB

Review the primary official source.

A return-to-work offer is not complete merely because it has a job title and a start date. The useful record connects the written duties to current medical restrictions and identifies the consequences of accepting, rejecting, or being unable to perform the position.

Start with the medical restrictions

Obtain the operative work-status report and identify each restriction in the physician’s own terms. Compare lifting, standing, schedule, location, and task limits with the actual position rather than a general assurance that work is “light duty.” If restrictions change, preserve the later report and ask for a revised written analysis.

Examine the offer itself

California DWC guidance distinguishes regular, modified, and alternative work. For injuries on or after January 1, 2013, Labor Code section 4658.7 generally requires a qualifying offer no later than 60 days after the claims administrator receives the specified physician report finding permanent-and-stationary status and permanent partial disability. The offered work must last at least 12 months. Review the duties, location, wages, schedule, expected duration, and offer date, and ask who will supervise accommodations when a task conflicts with a restriction.

Keep the SJDB question separate

The supplemental job displacement benefit is a nontransferable voucher for eligible education, retraining, or skill enhancement. If the employer does not make the qualifying offer within the statutory period, section 4658.7 calls for the voucher to be offered within 20 days after that period expires, up to an aggregate value of $6,000. Eligibility still depends on the complete statutory and regulatory setting; a dispute about one task does not by itself establish voucher entitlement. The DWC’s SJDB page explains the program and dispute routes.

Build a decision record

Keep the offer, job description, medical reports, communications about accommodations, and proof of response together. Report a failed work attempt promptly and factually. Do not resign, refuse work, or assume an offer is invalid without obtaining advice on the actual documents and deadlines. See the firm’s California workers’ compensation overview for the wider claim process.