"My settlement was $60,000. My check was $38,000."

The five

1 — Permanent disability already advanced. If the carrier paid permanent disability while the case was pending, that comes off the total as a credit. It is not a deduction; you already received it. This is the largest single surprise and it is almost always legitimate.

2 — Attorney's fee. Approved by the judge, and in California workers' compensation it is typically 9% to 15% — commonly 15% in a contested case. Labor Code § 4906 requires judicial approval; the lawyer does not set it unilaterally. What a lawyer costs.

3 — Liens. Medical treatment liens, EDD reimbursement for State Disability you received, Medi-Cal, and in some cases child support arrears. Under § 4903 these are resolved as part of the case. Many are negotiated down substantially, and many are barred outright for late filing. How liens work.

4 — A Medicare Set-Aside. If one applies, that amount is carved out — it is still your money, restricted to injury-related treatment. When this applies.

5 — Medical-legal costs. QME and AME report fees, deposition costs, interpreter fees. Usually the carrier's responsibility, but check where they landed.

Ask for it before you sign

"Show me the net." A one-page breakdown: gross settlement, less advances, less fee, less each lien by name, less any set-aside, equals what arrives.

A lawyer who will not produce that page is telling you something. So is a settlement conference where nobody mentions the advances until afterward.

What is not deducted

Taxes. Workers' compensation benefits are not taxable income under IRC § 104(a)(1). Nothing is withheld, and you do not report it. Taxes.

When the number itself was wrong

Separate from the deductions — sometimes the settlement figure was low to begin with.

A permanent disability rating you never checked. The occupational group on your rating string is assigned by actual duties, not job title, and correcting it moves the number. Decode your rating string.

A life pension nobody mentioned. At 70% and above there is a weekly payment for life, escalating annually, in addition to the permanent disability award. It is routinely left out of settlement discussions and is frequently worth more over a lifetime than the award itself. Check whether you're owed one.

A voucher and a supplement. The $6,000 job displacement voucher and the separate $5,000 return-to-work supplement are additional, not included. The voucher. · The $5,000.

A third-party case. If someone other than your employer contributed to the injury — a contractor, a driver, a property owner, an equipment manufacturer — that is a separate case, it pays pain and suffering, and it is not capped the way comp is. When one exists.