San Bernardino Workers’ Comp: From Disability Rating to Settlement

Hurt at work in San Bernardino County? DWC’s ZIP-code locator lists the San Bernardino district office for ZIP codes such as Ontario’s 91761 and Fontana’s 92335, but sends Chino’s 91710 to Pomona and Twentynine Palms’ 92277 to Riverside. Once a doctor says your condition has stopped improving, the case turns on a permanent disability rating and then on how it ends: an award that can keep future medical care, a lump-sum compromise that usually closes it, or a judge’s decision.

The San Bernardino office and the area it serves

The San Bernardino district office is at 464 W. Fourth Street, Suite 239, in the Rosa Parks building. Visitors check in at the building’s security desk, sign in and show a photo ID. The state parking structure north of the building charges $5 a day, and DWC lists a free public lot a block away. The office has an Information & Assistance Unit and a Disability Evaluation Unit, the state raters who turn medical reports into disability percentages.

On November 12, 2026, DWC’s ZIP-code locator returned San Bernardino for San Bernardino (92401), Fontana (92335), Ontario (91761), Rancho Cucamonga (91730), Redlands (92374), Victorville (92392) and Barstow (92311). It listed Pomona, in Los Angeles County, for Chino (91710), and the Riverside office for Twentynine Palms (92277). The locator identifies an office serving a ZIP code. Labor Code section 5501.5 separately permits filing based on residence, injury location or, for represented workers, the attorney’s principal business location, subject to the employer’s objection. Its rules also address written consent where a county has more than one office and nearest-office alternatives where a permitted county has none. Our WCAB venue guide explains those choices; follow the office named in your existing case notices.

When your condition stops improving

Permanent disability is any lasting disability from the work injury that affects your ability to earn a living, and DWC’s permanent disability fact sheet says you are entitled to it even if you go back to work. It is measured once the doctor decides your condition has stabilized and is unlikely to change. That point is called permanent and stationary, or maximal medical improvement.

The doctor then reports whether you have permanent disability and whether any of it was caused by something other than the work injury, such as an earlier injury. That second finding is apportionment, and it can reduce the award. If you or the claims administrator disagrees with the treating doctor, the next step is usually a qualified medical evaluator; our San Diego QME guide covers the 10-day deadlines. If your injury built up over time, our guide to Inland Empire cumulative-trauma claims explains how to document them.

How the rating becomes a dollar figure

The doctor’s report ends with an impairment number. A formula turns it into a percentage of disability, adjusted for your occupation and your age when you were hurt; for injuries on or after January 1, 2013, ratings include a 1.4 whole person impairment factor. Any portion caused by something other than the work injury is then taken out. The percentage converts to a dollar amount based on your date of injury and your average weekly wage. A rater from the Disability Evaluation Unit may calculate it; our guide to DEU ratings walks through the steps.

Payments can start before the final number. Under Labor Code section 4650, the first permanent disability payment is generally due within 14 days after the last temporary disability payment, followed by payments every two weeks until the reasonable estimate has been paid. Before an award, advances are not required if your employer has offered a position paying at least 85 percent of the wages and compensation you received when injured, or if you are employed in a position paying at least 100 percent. When the award issues, the amount then due is calculated from the last day covered by temporary disability payments or the date your condition became permanent and stationary, whichever is earlier.

If the rating looks wrong

DWC’s I&A guide 3 says the Disability Evaluation Unit gives out a summary rating after QME exams, and after treating-doctor exams on request. A worker may ask the Administrative Director to reconsider it within 30 days of receiving it, but only on one of four grounds; disagreeing with the doctor’s conclusion is not one of them. The request is mailed with the rating, the report and proof of service on the insurance company. Workers who have lawyers cannot use this route; their lawyer presents the rating dispute to a judge, according to DWC’s FAQ, and an unrepresented worker can also take the rating to a judge. Our summary-rating checklist covers the form.

Stipulated award, compromise and release, or trial

A judge must approve any settlement. DWC describes two kinds:

• A stipulation with request for award usually pays money over time and keeps future medical treatment open.
• A compromise and release resolves the whole claim for a lump sum. Once a judge approves it, the claims administrator usually owes no further payments or medical care.

If you cannot agree, a judge decides the permanent disability in a findings and award, which generally includes money and approved future medical treatment. Before signing either settlement, read our settlement checklist. If you were injured on or after January 1, 2013, and received a supplemental job displacement voucher, you may also qualify for the state’s one-time $5,000 Return-to-Work Supplement; DIR says the application must arrive within one year after the voucher was served. Our Return-to-Work Supplement guide explains who qualifies.

What to bring to a first conversation

• The permanent-and-stationary report from your treating doctor, QME or AME
• Any summary rating, with the date you received it
• The claims administrator’s permanent disability payment letters and settlement offers
• Pay records showing your earnings before the injury
• Your ADJ case number and office, if a case exists