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Andrea Dalessandro
✦ Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — Certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization ✦
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By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization
In California, Labor Code §4660 sets the permanent disability rating method — AMA Guides Fifth Edition whole-person impairment adjusted for the worker's age at injury, occupation, and diminished future earning capacity (DFEC) factor. The final §4660 percentage drives the §4658 dollar award and §4659 life-pension threshold.
California Labor Code §4660 establishes the California permanent disability (PD) rating method. The §4660 California rule starts with whole-person impairment under the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fifth Edition, as adopted by the legislature, and then adjusts the impairment number for the worker's age at the date of injury, occupational group, and diminished future earning capacity (DFEC) factor. The §4660 California output is a final PD percentage from 0% to 100% that drops directly into the California Labor Code §4658 schedule (dollar award) and triggers the California Labor Code §4659 life pension when the post-apportionment rating reaches 70%.
Under California Labor Code §4660, the California AMA Guides Fifth Edition impairment is determined by the treating physician (or a California Labor Code §4062.1-unrep or California Labor Code §4062.2-represented Panel QME, or an Agreed Medical Evaluator) using the impairment tables, range-of-motion measurements, and diagnosis-based estimates the Fifth Edition prescribes. The §4660 California impairment number — expressed as a whole-person impairment percentage — captures the anatomical and functional loss attributable to the industrial injury, not the worker's wage loss or vocational impact (those come later in the §4660 rating string).
Under California Labor Code §4660, the California rating string adjusts the AMA whole-person impairment for the worker's age at the date of injury and the worker's occupational group at the time of injury. Older California workers and physically demanding occupations generally produce upward adjustments — the §4660 California rule recognizes that the same medical impairment hits a 55-year-old construction worker harder than a 28-year-old desk worker. The §4660 California occupational adjustment uses the Schedule for Rating Permanent Disabilities adopted by the Administrative Director.
Under California Labor Code §4660, the California DFEC factor adjusts the impairment-plus-age-plus-occupation rating for the diminished future earning capacity caused by the impairment. The §4660 California DFEC framework attaches a multiplier to the AMA-Guides impairment based on the impairment's expected wage impact. The result is a "permanent disability" percentage that is meant to capture both the medical loss and its earning-capacity consequences — not pure medical impairment alone.
Under California Labor Code §4660 (rating method) and California Labor Code §4663 (apportionment), the California rating output is then reduced for any non-industrial contribution under §4663 California apportionment. A pre-apportionment §4660 California 80% rating with 25% non-industrial apportionment becomes a final 60% rating. That final post-apportionment §4660 California percentage is what feeds into the California Labor Code §4658 California PD payment schedule (dollar award) and the California Labor Code §4659 California life-pension threshold (70-99% band). The §4660 California rating is the gatekeeper of every California PD dollar.
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Tap to call →Last reviewed by Eman Yazdchi, Esq., May 2026.
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