SUPPLEMENTAL JOB DISPLACEMENT BENEFITS OVERVIEW
A supplemental job displacement benefit is a voucher that promises to help pay for educational retraining or skill enhancement, or both, at eligible schools. You can use the voucher to pay for tuition, fees, books, tools, or other expenses required by the school for retraining or skill enhancement, and for licensing or professional certification fees, related examination fees, and examination preparation course fees.
- Up to $600 of the voucher money may be used to pay for services of a licensed placement agency, a vocational or return-to-work counselor (a person who helps injured workers develop their goals and plans for returning to work), and resume preparation.
- Up to $1,000 may be used to purchase computer equipment.
- Up to $500 of the voucher money may be used upon request for miscellaneous expenses without receipts or other documentation.
SUPPLEMENTAL JOB DISPLACEMENT BENEFITS FAQ
The voucher is redeemable up to $6,000, regardless of your permanent disability rating. You cannot redeem the voucher as part of a settlement of your case.
The claims administrator must offer you a supplemental job displacement benefit if the following are true:
- Your injury causes permanent partial disability.
- Your employer does not offer you regular, modified, or alternative work within 60 days after the claims administrator receives the “Physician’s Return-to-Work & Voucher Report.”
The claims administrator sends the voucher on a form called “Supplemental Job Displacement Nontransferable Voucher Form” (DWC-AD 10133.32).
The claims administrator must offer you the voucher within 20 days after the end of the period when your employer may offer you regular, modified, or alternative work.
The voucher helps pay for you to attend a California public school or receive training with a provider on the state’s Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL).
The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) maintains a list of qualified vocational and return-to-work counselors. To see the list, you can go the DWC website: www.dwc.ca.gov.
If you present the voucher to the school and counselor you select, they can contact the claims administrator for direct payment. If you pay the expenses directly and submit receipts to the claims administrator, the claims administrator reimburses you. He or she must do this within 45 days after receiving the receipts along with your signed voucher.
Yes. The voucher expires two years after the date the voucher is furnished to you, or five years after your date of injury, whichever is later. All expenses must be incurred and submitted with required receipts and other documentation before the expiration date.
The RTWSP was created for the purpose of making a one-time supplemental payment to workers who experience a disproportionate loss of earnings. You may be eligible for a Return-to-Work Supplement if you have a date of injury on or after January 1, 2013, and have received a Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit (SJDB) voucher for that injury. The application for the supplemental benefit must be received by the RTWSP within one year of the date the SJDB voucher was served on the applicant. A one-time $5,000 Return-to-Work supplement is issued to an injured worker who meets the eligibility criteria.