A 39 year old baker, group 420, has a knee injury with slight instability precluding heavy lifting. What is the level of permanent disability?

• A. 18%
• B. 20%
• C. 22%
• D. 24%

Answer: (C)

Permanent disability in California workers’ comp is calculated by converting the injury’s impairment into a whole-person percentage using the Permanent Disability Rating Schedule, then adjusting that rating for the worker’s age and their occupation. In this case, a knee injury with slight instability that prevents heavy lifting translates to a knee impairment around 20%. The worker is 39 years old, and the occupation of a baker (group 420) provides an age/occupation adjustment that increases the overall rating slightly. When you apply those adjustments, the final whole-person permanent disability comes to about 22%.

So the 22% reflects both the initial knee impairment and the modest boost from being in this age/occupational group. The other percentages don’t align with the combination of the knee impairment plus the age and occupation factors.