California's 90-year-old workers' compensation system is designed to provide injured workers immediate and speedy relief without re- sorting to a formal trial. Instead of involving judges and the civil courts, injured workers may simply file a claim through a no-fault, administrative process. In theory, the process for delivering workers' compensation benefits, such as medical care, replacement of lost wages, and vocational, rehabilitation services, is precisely defined in the California Labor Code and other regulations and is mostly automatic. In reality, how- ever, disputes often arise over issues such as whether an injury in fact occurred at work, whether medical treatment is necessary, and the extent to which an injury poses long-term consequences for the worker. All such disputes are resolved in a single forum: the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB). Of the one million workers' compensation claims filed in California every year, about 200,000 end up at the WCAB.

For more than two decades, the California workers' compensation courts have been criticized for being slow, expensive, and procedurally inconsistent. In response to these concerns, the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation engaged the RAND Institute for Civil Justice to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the courts. The research team found that the courts' problems stem largely from severe understaffing, the failure to upgrade their management information system, and a lack of clear guidance and coordination in the governing rules and procedures. (This document is an Executive Summary of the full report on this study, Improving Dispute Resolution for California's Injured Workers, MR-1425-ICJ, 2003. This Executive Summary includes a CD that contains the text of the full report.)

Presents an account of experiences made with the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, with particular reference to the roles of lawyers, arbitrators, ombudsmen, unions, etc.

Workers in California experiencing injuries at work that result in permanent partial disabilities (PPD) are eligible to receive compensation. The workers' benefits, doctors' and attorneys' fees, and the system that processes the hundreds of thousands of annual claims cost employers billions of dollars each year. This report evaluates the workers' compensation system by examining its efficiency and the adequacy and equity of its benefits, and suggests system reforms. The authors conducted interviews with system participants and found that the system is still troubled by many of the same problems that plagued it before the 1989 and 1993 reforms. It remains overly costly, complex, and litigious while delivering modest benefits. The authors estimated the wage losses of PPD claimants in 1991-93, and found that even after five years, the injured workers earned considerably less than controls. In addition, injured workers experience considerable time out of work, not just immediately after the injury, but also after the initial return to work. The authors identified particular problems among claims categorized by the workers' compensation system as "minor," the vast majority of claims. For this group, wage replacement rates were lowest. Reform proposals include an elective fast track to streamline claims processing, and a revision to the disability rating schedule to improve the relationship between wage loss and benefits paid.