The Benefit Delivery System
Unlike most social insurance programs (e.g., social security and unemployment compensation), workers’ compensation in California, as well as in most other states, is not administered by a government agency. Workers’ compensation benefits are administered primarily by private parties – insurance companies authorized to transact workers’ compensation and those employers secure enough to be permitted to self-insure their workers’ compensation liability.
When an employer becomes aware of an on-the-job injury, the employer is expected to begin the process of providing the injured worker the benefits to which he or she is entitled under the law. Either the employer (if the employer is authorized to self-insure) or the employer’s insurer pays the benefits.
The state’s role in benefit delivery is to oversee the provision of workers’ compensation benefits, provide information and assistance to employees, employers, and others involved in the system, and to resolve disputes that arise in the process.