Kopitske

An injured worker receives vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance (VRMA). Her employer unreasonably delays paying advances against permanent disability (PDA) per Labor Code section 139.5. In this case of first impression, we hold that the 10 percent penalty under Labor Code section 5814 should be assessed against permanent disability (PD).

Victoria Kopitske (Kopitske) petitions for review of the order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) denying reconsideration of its ruling that the penalty assessed for unreasonable delay in paying PDA should only be against VRMA supplemented by PDA, and not against PD. *627 We annul the order and direct the WCAB to enter a new order assessing the penalty against PD.

Facts

Kopitske suffered an industrial injury. She received $372 per week as temporary disability (TD). Kopitske chose to enter vocational rehabilitation (VR) and received vocational rehabilitation temporary disability (VRTD) payments of $372 per week. Her condition became permanent and stationary (P&S). Accordingly, she was no longer eligible for TD payments. (Lab. Code, § 139.5, subd. (c).) 1 She continued to request VR services, making her eligible…

I respectfully dissent. I agree with the seasoned and experienced workers’ compensation judge, the Honorable Robert A. Ebenstein, whose report on reconsideration was adopted and incorporated unanimously by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board). The workers’ compensation judge and the Board concluded that the 10 percent penalty attached to the vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance (VRMA) and the permanent disability advances (PDA), but did not attach to the permanent disability (PD) award. The majority opine to the contrary, thereby increasing the penalty from $1,710 to $10,226.70.

“The board’s interpretation of statutes involving the workers’ compensation laws are ‘entitled to significant respect upon judicial review.’ [Citations.]” (Avalon Bay Foods v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1998) 18 Cal.4th 1165, 1174 [ 77 Cal.Rptr.2d 552 , 959 P.2d 1228 ].) The reason for this rule seems obvious. Workers’ compensation law is a special field and those who have been selected to administer it on a daily basis have developed an expertise and an insight into how the statutory components fit into the mosaic of this special field. Here, I would give “significant respect” to…