Seasonal Hires and the Holiday Rush: You Have Full Rights
The Rush is Real—And So Are the Risks As the holiday season descends on California the pressure to deliver intensifies. From the massive distribution centers in the Inland Empire feeding the Port of Los Angeles to the bustling retail floors of The Grove and the Beverly Center, companies are scrambling to meet demand. To keep up, major employers like Amazon, UPS, Target, and Ralphs hire thousands of workers on a seasonal or temporary basis.
These jobs are fast-paced, physically demanding, and often come with minimal safety training. Employers frequently view seasonal staff as "disposable" labor. Supervisors might push you to skip legally mandated rest breaks, lift loads far heavier than safety protocols allow, or ignore dangerous conditions just to clear the queue. When an injury happens, they often bank on you not knowing your rights, hoping you’ll simply disappear when your contract ends in January.
Your Status Doesn't Limit Your Rights A common misconception among workers in Los Angeles is that being a "temp," "seasonal," or "part-time" employee means you have fewer protections. This is false. Under California law, if you are injured while working a seasonal position—whether you are a holiday clerk in Santa Monica or a delivery driver in Downtown LA—you have the exact same rights as a full-time, permanent employee:
Medical Care: 100% covered by the employer’s insurance, with no deductibles or co-pays. This includes surgery, physical therapy, and medications.
Temporary Disability: Tax-free payments while you recover (calculated at 2/3 of your wages).
Permanent Disability: Financial compensation if you have lasting impairment or loss of function. Rated by AMA Guidesds 5th edition
Supplemental Job Displacement Voucher: A $6,000 voucher for retraining or education if you do not recover 100% and cannot return to work.
The "Paycheck Battle": How We Fight for Your Rate
The biggest battle for seasonal workers isn't usually getting benefits—it's getting paid the correct amount.
Insurance adjusters generally use "Method 1" of the Labor Code to calculate your Temporary Disability rate. They look at your earnings over the past 52 weeks, see that you only worked for 3 months of the year, and average that out to a tiny weekly number. This is a tactic to underpay you.
The Lee Partners Law Strategy: Labor Code 4453(c)(3) We fight back using Labor Code Section 4453(c)(3) and (c)(4). These sections allow us to argue that your disability rate should be based on your earning capacity—what you could have earned—rather than just a historical average.
The Math Difference:
The Insurance Way: You earned $10,000 total last year because you were a full-time student at UCLA or USC. They divide $10,000 by 52 weeks = $192/week average.
Our Way: You were hired at $22/hour for 40 hours a week for the holiday rush. Your earning capacity during the injury period was $880/week. We argue your Temporary Disability rate should be based on that $880, giving you significantly higher checks to live on while you recover in Los Angeles.
Injury Spotlight & The AMA Guides (5th Edition)
When you reach "Maximum Medical Improvement" (MMI), a Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) will assign you a permanent disability rating. They use a complex book called the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (5th Edition). Insurance doctors are trained to use this book to minimize your rating.
At Lee Partners Law, we are experts in these Guides. We know the specific chapters and tables that increase case value. Here is how we handle the three most common seasonal injuries we see in Los Angeles:
1. The Delivery Driver (Lumbar Spine Injuries)
The Scenario: You are rushing to deliver packages in the Hollywood Hills or navigating traffic on the 405. You twist while lifting a heavy box and feel a sharp "pop" in your lower back. The Insurance Argument: "It's just a lumbar strain (DRE Category I). 0% impairment. Take some ibuprofen and go back to work." The Reality (DRE Category II or III): We fight to prove your injury fits into a higher category within the AMA Guides:
DRE Category II (5-8% Impairment): We look for evidence of muscle spasms, "guarding" (stiffness), or non-verifiable radicular pain (pain shooting down the leg).
DRE Category III (10-13% Impairment): If you have "objective" signs of radiculopathy—such as loss of reflexes, muscle weakness, or sensory loss confirmed by an EMG test—your rating jumps significantly.
The Value: A 0% rating gets you $0. A 13% rating can mean thousands of dollars in permanent disability settlements, plus future medical care.
2. The Warehouse Sorter (Repetitive Stress/Carpal Tunnel)
The Scenario: You are scanning and sorting thousands of items a day at a fulfillment center in Commerce or Ontario. Your hands go numb at night, and you start dropping things. The Insurance Argument: "Your EMG nerve test is normal. 0% rating." The Reality (Sensory & Motor Deficits): Even if one test is "normal," we look for clinical signs. Under Chapter 16 of the AMA Guides, we rate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome based on specific deficits:
Sensory Deficit: We measure the specific loss of feeling in your fingers (Grade 1-5).
Motor Deficit: We measure the loss of strength in your thumb muscle (thenar atrophy).
Grip Strength: While the Guides discourage using grip strength alone for Carpal Tunnel, we ensure that if you have a secondary injury (like tendonitis or epicondylitis), your loss of grip strength is properly calculated to increase your overall rating.
3. The Retail Associate (Slips, Falls & Knee Injuries)
The Scenario: You slip on a wet floor near the entrance of a store in Century City during a rainy day, or trip over scattered inventory on Black Friday. You tear a meniscus or twist your knee. The Insurance Argument: They will offer a rating based on a "diagnosis" only, often ignoring your chronic pain or stiffness. The Reality (Range of Motion): For knee and shoulder injuries, we demand the Range of Motion method.
We ensure the doctor measures every angle of movement (flexion, extension).
Every 10 degrees of lost motion adds to your impairment percentage.
Gait Derangement: If you are limping because of the pain, Chapter 13 of the Guides allows for an additional rating for "Gait Derangement." Many doctors "forget" to include this. We don't.
Not Just for Winter: Year-Round Protections
While "seasonal" work often implies the December holidays, the Los Angeles economy runs on seasonal surges year-round. We protect workers across all these sectors:
1. The Winter Rush (Nov - Jan)
Industries: Retail (The Grove, Third Street Promenade), Logistics (LAX Cargo, Port of LA), Delivery Services.
Risks: Heavy lifting, vehicle accidents in rain, slip and falls in crowded stores.
2. The Summer Surge (May - Sept)
Industries: Tourism (Hollywood, Universal Studios), Hospitality (Hotels, Restaurants), Lifeguarding (LA County Beaches), Construction.
Risks: Heat stroke (a serious issue in the Valley), burns in commercial kitchens, swimming accidents, dehydration.
3. The Harvest & Event Season (Aug - Oct)
Industries: Event staffing (Concerts at SoFi, Hollywood Bowl), Wineries, specialized agriculture.
Risks: Machinery crush injuries, crowd control injuries, repetitive motion.
Regardless of the month, if you were hired to fill a rush and got hurt, you are covered.
Immediate Steps If You Are Injured
If you are injured on the job this week, take these steps immediately to protect your claim:
Report It in Writing: Don't just tell your supervisor verbally. Send an email or text message stating, "I was injured at work today," and describe the body parts hurt. This creates a timestamped record.
Demand a Claim Form (DWC-1): Your employer is legally required to give you this form within one working day of your injury report.
See a Doctor Immediately: Do not "tough it out" until the season ends. Gaps in medical treatment are the #1 reason insurance companies deny claims. The most important step to defeating claim denials is early treatment records.
Why you Need a Workers' Comp Specialist
General practitioners or "billboard lawyers" often miss the specific "modifiers" in the AMA Guides that increase your case value. They might miss the "pain add-on" (up to 3% extra Whole Person Impairment) or fail to apply the correct "occupational variant" that adjusts your rating based on the heavy demands of your specific job.
At Lee Partners Law, we don't just process files. We analyze the medical reporting line-by-line to ensure every symptom you suffer is translated into the financial value you deserve.
Questions About Your Seasonal Injury? Don't let an employer tell you that you "don't qualify" for workers' comp because you were only hired for the holidays. If you got hurt helping them hit their numbers, they are responsible for your recovery.
David A. Lee & Michael Lee Founding Partners