What Is California Labor Code §4658.6: Job Offer Voucher Exception?

Within 30 days of the termination of temporary disability indemnity payments, the employer offers, and the employee rejects, or fails to accept, in the form and manner prescribed by the administrative director, modified work, accommodating the employee’s work restrictions, lasting at least 12 months.

What is Labor Code 4658.6, in plain terms?

It gives the employer a defense: a timely, qualifying work offer can defeat the old job displacement voucher completely.

Before 2013, a worker left with permanent partial disability who did not return to the old job within 60 days after temporary disability payments ended became eligible for a voucher under Section 4658.5. This rule gives the employer a separate, faster way to avoid that voucher. If the employer puts a qualifying offer in writing no later than 30 days after disability payments end, and the worker turns it down or never accepts it, no voucher is owed, regardless of whether the worker later takes some other job. This provision only matters for an injury dated from January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2012, since that is the only window when Section 4658.5 itself applies. A later injury uses a different voucher law, covered further down this page.

How does the 30-day job offer actually work?

The employer must put a qualifying offer in writing within 30 days after disability payments end, and the worker must reject it or fail to accept it.

The clock starts on the date temporary disability payments stop, not the date of injury. From that date, the employer has 30 days to make one of two kinds of offer, in the form the administrative director requires. The table below shows what each offer type needs to include.

If the worker accepts a qualifying offer, there is no voucher dispute at all. A dispute usually comes up when the worker turns down the offer, never responds to it, or the employer claims it made an offer the worker says it never sent.

Does this exception apply to today's $6,000 voucher?

No. This provision only ever worked together with the old voucher under Section 4658.5, for an injury dated before 2013.

An injury on or after January 1, 2013 uses the Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit, or SJDB voucher, under Section 4658.7 instead, with its own offer test built from the definitions in Section 4658.1. That current test gives the employer 60 days after a doctor's report finds the disability permanent, not 30 days from the end of disability payments, and it uses the terms regular, modified, and alternative work the way Section 4658.1 defines them. This older rule was never rewritten to match that newer system and still only cross-references the old voucher. A claim with a 2013 or later date of injury should rely on the current SJDB guide and the 4658.1 definitions, not this page.

How does this fit with the rest of the old voucher law?

It is one piece of a now-closed chapter of voucher law built around Section 4658.5.

Two of these sections worked together for an older claim. Section 4658.5 set the voucher amount, from $4,000 to $10,000 based on the worker's permanent disability rating, plus the 60-day return-to-work trigger described above. Labor Code 4658.6, covered on this page, gave the employer its own 30-day offer defense to that voucher, with its own wage and duration conditions. Section 4658.1 defines regular, modified, and alternative work for the current system instead; this older voucher pair does not use those definitions, since Labor Code 4658.7 only cross-references Section 4658.1 for an injury dated 2013 or later. For the voucher amount and the 60-day trigger, see the Section 4658.5 guide. For today's voucher and its 4658.1 definitions, see the Section 4658.7 guide linked above.

What should you check if an old voucher dispute still matters today?

Confirm the date of injury first, then find the paperwork showing whether a qualifying offer was actually made and refused.

Start with the date of injury on the original claim form. If it falls between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2012, this exception can still matter if an old voucher dispute resurfaces, including during a reopened claim. Look for the date of the last temporary disability payment, any written job offer from the employer, and the worker's response to that offer. A voucher under the older law also runs on its own expiration schedule, so check the Section 4658.5 guide before assuming a voucher is still available to use. For the rest of how a California workers' compensation claim moves forward today, see the firm's claim process guide. A free consultation can help sort out whether a voucher from this period was ever properly offered, properly refused, or already expired.

If an old California job displacement voucher from 2004 through 2012 is back in question, whether it was ever paid, or whether an employer's job offer actually met this section's conditions, Yazdchi Law P.C. can review the dates and paperwork with you. Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form to ask about your specific claim.