Webb v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Opinion

MOSK, J.

As amended in 1974, Labor Code section 139.5 establishes in qualified injured workers a right to vocational rehabilitation services and benefits, and a correlative duty in the Rehabilitation Bureau of the Division of Industrial Accidents (bureau) to expedite and facilitate provision of the same. In this case we consider for the first time the single issue: the proper commencement date for the payment of such benefits.

We begin with a brief chronological outline of the undisputed facts. On January 31, 1975, employee Webb slipped from a forklift he was operating for employer Di…