Where this sits
- Chapter 4.5.
- Division of Workers' Compensation
- Subchapter 1.6. Permanent Disability Rating Determination
The regulation, as printed
(a) The Disability Evaluation Unit will prepare consultative rating determinations upon request of the appeals board, workers' compensation administrative law judges, settlement conference referees, arbitrators, workers' compensation judges pro tempore and information & assistance officers. (b) Consultative rating determinations may be requested for the purpose of determining the ratable significance of factors, reviewing proposed compromise and release agreements for adequacy, determining commuted values, resolving occupational questions or any other matters within the expertise of the disability evaluators. Consultative Rating Determinations will not be admissible in judicial proceedings. (c) The Disability Evaluation Unit may also prepare consultative rating determinations upon receipt of reasonable requests from employers, injured workers or their respective representatives. A request is not considered reasonable where an insurance carrier or self-insurer seeks a consultative rating determination for the purpose of terminating its liability or for negotiating a compromise and release settlement where the injured worker has no representative. Consultative rating determinations shall not to be used as a substitute for summary rating determinations. (d) In all cases the person making a request for a consultative rating determination will provide the Disability Evaluation Unit with the occupation and age of the injured worker at the time of injury. (e) No consultative rating determination will be provided on cases in which an application for adjudication of claim has been filed with the appeals board without prior written authorization of the Appeals Board, a workers' compensation administrative law judge, settlement conference referee, arbitrator, workers' compensation judge pro tempore, or information & assistance officer. In cases where an application has been filed, the disability evaluator may require that any request for consultative rating determination be accompanied by the appeals board file.
Authority and history
Note: Authority cited: Sections 133, 5307.3 and 5307.4, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 123.6, 123.7, 124, 5275, 5451, 5502, 5701 and 5703.5, Labor Code.
1. New section filed 4-25-91; operative 4-25-91 (Register 91, No. 26). New section is exempt from review by OAL pursuant to Government Code section 11351. 2. Amendment of section filed 1-28-94; operative 1-28-94. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Government Code section 11351 (Register 94, No. 4). 3. Amendment of section heading and section filed 11-17-2008; operative 11-17-2008 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2008, No. 47). Go Back to Subchapter 1.6 Table of Contents
What panels did with this rule
Released decisions that named § 10166, with the passage each turned on. A panel decision persuades; it does not bind.
- ADJ9840613 · 2025-08-28 · Sacramento District Office8 CCR § 10166
Determinative passage · p.5Here, applicant alleges that the Stipulations with Request for Award was "procured by [f]raud" and that defendant was "acting in bad faith" when they failed to provide the DEU Consultative Rating to the WCJ. (Petition, p. 2.) Pursuant to WCAB Rule 10166(b), however, consultative ratings are not admissible in judicial proceedings. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10166(b).) Further, we find no evidence of fraud, duress, undue influence, mutual mistake of fact, mistake of law, invalidity of execution, or incompetency herein.
The Board found no fraud based on the non-admissibility of consultative ratings.
Official decision · page 5 → - ADJ1427412 · 2022-04-11 · Oxnard District Office8 CCR § 10166
Determinative passage · p.4The trial was scheduled before the undersigned judge on December 10, 2021, at which time the matter was submitted on the record, with no testimony. The undersigned then issued a Findings and Award and Opinion on Decision, on January 19, 2022, finding that the applicant was entitled to an un-apportioned award of 9% PD, pursuant to the findings of the Panel QME Dr. Bashner. Opinion on Decision, page 2, and Findings and Award, both dated January 19, 2022.
WCJ properly relied on Panel QME Dr. Bashner's rating and did not err in awarding 9% PD
Official decision · page 4 → - ADJ12829129 · 2021-02-01 · San Luis Obispo District Office8 CCR § 10166
Determinative passage · p.2"[T]he record of proceedings in a case submitted for decision on the record must be properly organized and must contain at the minimum: a list of the issues submitted to the WCJ for decision; the stipulations of the parties, if any; and the admitted evidence." (Hamilton v. Lockheed Corp. (2001) 66 Cal.Comp.Cases 473, 474 (Appeals Board en banc).) "The evidence submitted by the parties must be formally admitted and must be included in the record to enable the parties to comprehend the basis for the decision. Furthermore, a proper record enables any reviewing tribunal, be it the Appeals Board on reconsideration or a court of further appeal, to understand the basis for the decision." (Hamilton, supra, 475.) The Labor Code and the Appeals Board rules contain explicit instructions concerning the contents of the record of a case. (Lab. Code, § 5502; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10759 (b) and (c).) "It is the responsibility of the parties and the WCJ to ensure that the record is complete when a case is submitted for decision on the record." (Hamilton, supra, 477.)
The record was incomplete and lacked required elements, necessitating rescission and remand. The WCJ cannot rely on consultative ratings.
Official decision · page 2 →
Rules beside this one
Subchapter 1.6. Permanent Disability Rating Determination — regulations rarely stand alone, and the answer is often two sections away.
- § 10164Summary Rating Determinations, Reconsideration if Employee is Unrepresented.
- § 10165Service of Summary Rating Determination and Notice of Options Following Permanent Disability Rating.
- § 10165.5Notice of Options Following Disability Rating (DEU Form 110).
- § 10166.1Form (Request for Consultative Rating).
- § 10167Informal Ratings.
- § 10168Records, Destruction of. [Repealed]