When they must send it
• Within 14 days after the determination to deny is made.
The deadline this notice puts on you
You must notify me in writing of your objection to the determination of the treating physician within thirty days of the date you received the treating physician’s report.
Quoted from the model notice below. Your letter should say the same — if it does not, that is worth asking about.
Rule text
California Labor Code § 4062 · 20 unspecified
Trigger: receipt of the treating physician report
(a) If either the employee or employer objects to a medical determination made by the treating physician concerning any medical issues not covered by Section 4060 or 4061 and not subject to Section 4610, the objecting party shall notify the other party in writing of the objection within 20 days of receipt of the report if the employee is represented by an attorney or within 30 days of receipt of the report if the employee is not represented by an attorney.…
California Labor Code § 4062 · 30 unspecified
Trigger: receipt of the treating physician report
(a) If either the employee or employer objects to a medical determination made by the treating physician concerning any medical issues not covered by Section 4060 or 4061 and not subject to Section 4610, the objecting party shall notify the other party in writing of the objection within 20 days of receipt of the report if the employee is represented by an attorney or within 30 days of receipt of the report if the employee is not represented by an attorney.…
Quoted from the statute, marked computed. The deadline table is a draft extraction — read the official code if the two disagree.
The rule behind it
8 CCR §9812(a)(3)
The official model notice
BENEFIT NOTICE INSTRUCTION MANUAL Claims Administrator Name Address City_State_Zip Telephone Number [include if available] Website address Date [Option] SENT VIA E-MAIL TO employee’s e- mail address Employee Employer: Address Date of Injury: City_State_Zip Claim Number: NOTICE REGARDING TEMPORARY DISABILITY BENEFITS DENIAL CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR NAME is handling your workers' compensation claim on behalf of EMPLOYER NAME. This notice is to advise you of the status of disability benefits for your workers' compensation injury on the date shown above. Although liability for your workers' compensation injury has been accepted, I cannot pay you temporary disability benefits for the period DATE through DATE because REASON FO R DENIAL. (If denial is based on a medical report, include the following:) A copy of the report is attached to this notice. [If benefit is denied for medical issue and employee unrepresented, include the following] We (select one) accept / disagree with the treating physician’s evaluation of your temporary disability status. …
Published by the Division of Workers’ Compensation in the Benefit Notice Instruction Manual. Excerpt — read the full manual at the source. p.18.
Source · dir.ca.gov →When this went wrong
Decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board on this subject. Each quotes the passage it turned on and links to the official PDF.
- ADJ22856965 · 2026-09-08 · San Francisco District OfficeTemporary disabilityapplicant prevailed
Determinative passage · p.4Turning to the merits, with regard to entitlement to temporary disability benefits beyond August 14, 2024, applicant essentially argues that defendant is estopped from relying on the permanent and stationary date in Dr. Feinberg’s report because defendant ignored Dr. Feinberg’s repeated opinion that applicant sustained industrial injury and compensable disability. 4 While we appreciate applicant’s rhetorical flourish, our decision must be based on the evidence in the record, and we have no power to punitively create further temporary disability because of unreasonable delays or bad faith litigation tactics. The Labor Code provides other remedies for this type of conduct (see, e.g., Lab. Code, §§ 5813, 5814). “[T]emporary disability indemnity is payable during the injured worker’s healing period from the injury until the worker has recovered sufficiently to return to work, or until his/her condition reaches a permanent and stationary status.” (Huston v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1979) 95 Cal.App.3d 856, 868 [44 Cal.Comp.Cases 798].) Here, Dr. Feinberg opined that applicant’s condition reached permanent and stationary status on August 13, 2024.
Official decision · page 4 → - ADJ17096552 · 2026-09-04 · San Diego District OfficeTemporary disabilityapplicant prevailed
Determinative passage · p.8disability. We defer the issue of temporary disability after February 1, 2024 pending further development of the record. Similarly, we defer the issue of any periods of temporary disability preceding August 10, 2022 pending further development of the record. Although the defendant also casts doubt on the temporary disability period based on “evidence” of applicant’s employment as a home health aid, the only evidence in the record was applicant’s testimony that he “stopped taking care of his son through IHSS in 2022.” (Minutes of Hearing and Summary of Evidence of March 16, 2022 trial at p. 4.) Accordingly, there is no evidence that applicant was employed during any periods for which we have found temporary disability. For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that Zurich’s Petition for Reconsideration of the Findings and Award of June 15, 2026 is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED as the Decision After Reconsideration of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board that the Findings and Award of June 15, 2026 is AMENDED as follows:
The WCAB amended the temporary disability period to start from August 10, 2022 through February 1, 2024, based on medical evidence from QME Dr. Hendel and the hospitalization of the applicant. The issue of temporary disability before or after these dates was deferred for further development.
Official decision · page 8 → - ADJ18573103 · 2026-08-17 · Oakland District OfficeTemporary disabilityapplicant prevailed
Determinative passage · p.8II. We will affirm the WCJ’s finding that applicant was totally temporarily disabled from January 9, 2026 going forward. Temporary disability indemnity is compensation for temporary impairment in earning ability caused by the industrial injury which is reasonably expected to be cured or materially improved with proper medical treatment or over time. (Lab. Code, §§ 4453 and 4653; see Chavira v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 463, 473 [56 Cal.Comp.Cases 631].) We adopt and incorporate the WCJ’s report on this issue as follows: THE FINDINGS OF FACT AND AWARD OF TTD FROM JANUARY 9, 2026 AND ONGOING WAS SUPPORTED BY THE RECORD AND NOT IN ERROR
The WCAB found that the applicant was totally temporarily disabled from January 9, 2026, ongoing, based on the credible opinion of PTP Dr. Kamdar and applicant's testimony, rejecting the stale opinions of AMEs Dr. Levy and Dr. Woodcox regarding permanent and stationary status. The delay in payment was not unreasonable due to genuine medical doubt, so the 25% penalty under section 5814 was rescinded, but a 10% increase on delayed payments was awarded under section 4650(d). Attorney fees under section 5813 were rescinded and replaced with a 15% fee on delayed payments.
Official decision · page 8 → - ADJ16581671 · 2026-08-10 · Santa Ana District OfficeTemporary disabilitydefendant prevailed
Determinative passage · p.9that an orthopedist should evaluate applicant’s knees with the possible need for surgery. This would indicate that applicant is not at maximum medical improvement at either the time of the report or at the time of the PTP report. Further, though the psyche QME did not conclude that applicant was temporary totally disabled, she also did not find him at MMI. The psyche treater did opine that applicant was temporarily disabled at least through September 2024. Finally, the issue of injury in the form of the venous condition is deferred. Until there is a finding as to the compensability of that condition, the end date for temporary disability is not supported. As such, we will rescind the finding of the period of temporary disability so that the WCJ can make a finding of maximum medical improvement and develop the record for the venous condition.
The WCAB rescinded the temporary disability period awarded by the WCJ due to lack of MMI finding and deferred the issue pending further development of the venous condition record.
Official decision · page 9 →