Legal Question in Workers Comp in California

Your employer is encouraged to offer you modified duty by a reduction of 15% in permanent disability payments, but as a former defense attorney I always though a return to "light" work was always a win-win situation in that a full wage was much higher than TD benefits and the employer probably got back a better employee than was available on the open labor market. 90% of workers who did not return to some form of work within 100 days of their injury never returned ever to that job and probably none other.

Refusing a reasonable modified work offer still give the employer the PD credit, but no one can force you back to light work duties. But the longer you stay off, the less likely you will find any meaningful work. You can certainly ask your employer to change the hours and days, but fairly quickly you will probably suggest a schedule that makes no economic sense to the employer. WC does not force anyone to do anything, but if you are not reasonable under all the circumstances the system does not work well for employees.