Working Against Doctor's Restrictions While on Workers' Compensation

Attorney Answer

There is no single legal name for it. If your employer is pushing you to work against your treating doctor's restrictions because you were hurt on the job or filed a claim, California treats that as discrimination against an injured worker, and Cal. Lab. Code § 132a is the provision that addresses it.

That section states: "It is the declared policy of this state that there should not be discrimination against workers who are injured in the course and scope of their employment." Its remedies are specific — compensation increased by one-half up to $10,000, costs up to $250, reinstatement, and lost wages — and the conduct is also a misdemeanor. A § 132a claim is pursued inside the workers' compensation system rather than in an ordinary court, and its deadline is short.

A few practical points about restrictions themselves.

Work restrictions come from your treating physician in the compensation claim. They do not come from your employer, and they do not come from a supervisor's read of which side of your body looks fine. The employer's role is to decide whether it has work available that fits inside those restrictions. It does not get to decide that the restrictions are wrong. If the employer or the insurer disagrees with the treating doctor, the compensation system has its own medical-dispute process for resolving that, and a supervisor's opinion is not part of it.

If working outside the restrictions makes your injury worse, that added harm is generally handled inside the same compensation claim. Cal. Lab. Code § 3602(a) makes workers' compensation the employee's sole and exclusive remedy against the employer where the conditions of compensation are met, which is why the route here runs through the claim and the compensation agency rather than through a lawsuit against your boss. Report any worsening to your treating doctor promptly — the record of when it happened is what carries the point later.

What you can do

1. Ask your treating doctor for a written copy of your current work restrictions at each visit, and keep every version.

2. Give a copy to your employer and to the claims adjuster handling your compensation claim, and keep proof that you sent it. An email or a text is enough.

3. Each time you are asked to work outside the restrictions, note the date, who asked, and what you were told to do — and send that note to the claims adjuster in writing.

4. Tell your treating doctor at your next visit that you have been working outside the restrictions and how you have felt since, so it is in the medical record rather than only in your memory.

5. Contact the state Division of Workers' Compensation's Information and Assistance unit. It is free, it is the agency that oversees these claims, and it can explain your options with the adjuster.

6. Ask a local workers' compensation attorney about a Labor Code § 132a petition, and about what happens if your employer has no work that fits your restrictions.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with someone licensed in California is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A Cal. Lab. Code § 132a claim carries its own deadline, and it is shorter than the periods people expect for ordinary employment or injury claims. The underlying workers' compensation claim has separate reporting and filing deadlines of its own. When each of those starts depends on your facts — when the injury was reported, and when the conduct you are describing occurred. Have a local workers' compensation attorney check the actual dates rather than assuming there is time.