Redwood City Workers' Comp Lawyer

The state's own employer data for San Mateo County lists very different kinds of workplaces inside Redwood City. The state checked this data on October 13, 2026. Box and Electronic Arts are technology and software companies. Kaiser Permanente Redwood City is a hospital. The San Mateo County Tax Collector runs a county office from the city. Whatever kind of employer you have, the same question comes up once a treating doctor says your injury will not improve any further: who turns that report into an official disability percentage, and how do you ask for it?

This guide explains DEU, California's disability rating office: who can request a rating without a lawyer, which form to use, and where a Redwood City request goes. Yazdchi Law is based in Palmdale. The firm has no office in Redwood City. Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form to ask whether the firm can look at a California workers' compensation matter. Each matter is reviewed on its own facts.

What does California's Disability Evaluation Unit do, and which form fits a Redwood City claim?

DEU is the state office that turns a doctor's impairment findings into an official permanent disability percentage. It does not examine you itself.

The Division of Workers' Compensation's DEU page explains this work, checked October 13, 2026. DEU reads medical descriptions already in your file, then applies the state rating schedule. DEU acts for the administrative director. One state form even carries that exact name. The right form for you depends on your situation.

A claim is litigated once an Application for Adjudication of Claim is filed with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB), usually alongside an attorney of record. Most Redwood City workers calling about a rating have not reached that point, so form DWC-AD 101 or 102 applies. California Labor Code section 4061 sets the timing for this path.

The unrepresented employee or the employer may submit the treating physician's evaluation for the calculation of a permanent disability rating. Within 20 days of receipt of the comprehensive medical evaluation, the administrative director shall calculate the permanent disability rating according to Section 4660 or 4660.1, as applicable, and serve the rating on the employee and employer.

The same law gives you 30 days after you get the rating to ask in writing for reconsideration, using form DWC-AD 103, if the medical evaluation missed an issue. Before you mail anything, gather these items:

• Get the treating physician's or qualified medical evaluator's (QME) final report.
• Have your claim number and the claims administrator's name and address ready.
• Fill out form DWC-AD 100, the Employee's Permanent Disability Questionnaire, if a QME packet is involved.
• Note the date you send it, to track the 20 day period.

Do I need a new medical exam to get a rating?

No. DEU rates the report that already exists. It does not schedule a new exam.

This is a common worry. The state's own rules do not support it. DEU works from a report your doctor or QME already wrote once your condition stopped improving. If that report is incomplete or wrong, either side can ask for a supplemental report instead of starting over. For help picking a QME, see our guide to choosing a QME doctor. For how a medical opinion gets formed in the first place, see our AME and QME guide.

What happens after the rating comes back?

The percentage sets your permanent disability payments. If you cannot return to your old job, it may also open a retraining voucher.

A DEU rating does not pay you directly. Your claims administrator uses the percentage to set permanent disability payments under the state schedule. Our guide to how permanent disability is rated explains that schedule. Our guide to what a rating pays covers the dollar amounts. A rating with permanent disability can also open a different door. If your employer cannot offer your old job back, you may qualify for the Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit (SJDB) voucher, a state retraining benefit. NOVAworks, listed below, offers free career counseling either way.

Find the right San Francisco contact for a Redwood City claim

Redwood City has no Division of Workers' Compensation office of its own. Two separate state locators point a claim toward San Francisco instead, for different purposes, and each office uses its own phone number and mailing code.

Neither locator decides where a case belongs, or who is right about a disputed issue. A worker can live in Redwood City and work for an employer based elsewhere. A claim or rating request might land in San Francisco, or occasionally a different office, depending on the facts on file. DEU's own published office list and its ZIP locator do not always show identical contact details for the same office, so confirm the current mailing address and phone number with DEU or your claims administrator before you mail a rating request.

Do you need help deciding whether to request a rating now, whether your claim still counts as non-litigated, or what a rating could mean for your benefits? Call Yazdchi Law at (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form. The firm is based in Palmdale, not Redwood City. Each California workers' compensation matter is reviewed on its own facts before the firm decides whether representation is a fit.