Happy Monday, dear reader!

Your humble blogger’s head is spinning by all the great stories and doings and developments in our beloved swamp of California Workers’ Compensation – what to talk about first?

Well, with some many choices, why not discuss interpreter fees?

Oh yes, dear readers, the DWC has proposed an interpreter fee schedule to max out all-day fees at $448 (more than 4 hours), or $225 for a half-day (3.5 hours during the day or 3 hours during the evening).  But there’s so much more (or less, depending on what the final write-up will be).

For example, section 9931(c) codifies the decision in Porfirio Contreras v. Gibson Farms which held that the party noticing the deposition would get to schedule and select the interpreter.

The obligation is now on the employer to notify the applicant at least 2 days prior to an interpretation that an interpreter has been scheduled.  Section 9931(g) provides that by phone with voicemail, e-mail, text message.  If the defendant fails to do this, the applicant is free to arrange for an interpreter.

Also, the proposed regulations would limit interpreter fees to an hourly rate for the first hour and 15 minute increments thereafter for assisting a deponent in reviewing a deposition transcript from a prior deposition or preparing for a second deposition.  (Section 9936(a)(3)(B).)

There is a lot more to go through but your humble blogger suspects that a good portion of the language will be changed or cut by the time these becomes regulations.

If you have anything you’d like to add, send an e-mail to DWCForums@dir.ca.gov with your comments or ideas.  The forum closes on April 13, 2018, so you better hurry!