MC is a not-very-well-educated guy (high school diploma, maybe a semester or two of community college) who worked in a warehouse. Strong back, basic computer interface skills (what to pick and pack). He's not dumb by any means, but he manages to get himself electrocuted by some faulty machinery. I have a friend who was electrocuted, and he lost most of the strength in his hands (couldn't hold a soda), so my MC is out of work and doesn't have any prospects. I looked at the California Department of Industrial Relations page, but it's... well, no quick and dirty guides. Anybody have any experience or know a simple reference page that would let me know how to gauge disability percentages and the resulting disability paycheck? It's vital that he can't go back to work in the warehouse, but he does need to be mobile/not visibly disabled as he's going to end up a bit of a con artist (due to being unemployable at anything else).
Did you happen to check the Social Security website? They might have something. You also might be able to get some info by contacting an attorney who represents people who have been turned down by Social Security to receive disability. I know it's a specialty of law.
I looked at California's explanation site, but it's by necessity very vague. I don't imagine they want people using some online chart and self-assessment of their injuries to build up the idea that they'll be farting through silk the rest of their lives because they lost a single toe-joint. Since I'm just looking for broad strokes and everyone here seems to have been fortunate enough to avoid the situation, I'll ask my buddy what he got in Illinois. I'm modeling the MC's injury after his (or will be, once I get his permission), and I'm still undecided on being specifically in California (or anywhere else), so I can hopefully say something along the lines of "The [$400] a month I got was supposed to cover the fact that I'd never lift another box in my life, and I wasn't qualified to do much more. Except, of course, talk to the dead, for a very reasonable fee." (that's the idea, not the writing.)
Its case by case and they do home visits with a case manager to determine what you're capable of and to decide on your restrictions. My brother is rated at 75% disabled or something from injuries sustained as a wilderness firefighter. He's not supposed to be able to climb stairs or stand for more than 2 hours at a stretch or lift more than 10lbs. He gave up his disability check so he could actually work though
I'm sorry to hear about your brother, but thanks for sharing the information. With that condition, rated at 75% disabled, does that mean that he'd get 75% of his previous pay, or is it more complex? For my story, I don't need to get into nitty-gritty details, but having a plausible set of numbers in my head, even if they aren't stated on the page, will help a lot.
No, definitely not 75% of his pay lol wilderness fire fighters make like $5-7k/month during fire season. He would have gotten 75% of disability pay, which was I think something like 1k/month as I recall (so like $750) don't quote me on that though because it was like ten years ago. California's disability website is pretty thorough, tho, they'll at least give you ballpark figures.
Thanks again. I'm off on vacation for a couple of weeks in... just a few hours, so if you don't hear anything, don't feel that I won't get back to this.
