Agriculture is California’s hardest workforce and its least-informed about comp — by design of nobody and to the benefit of carriers. The schedule itself is not the problem: group 491 draws heavy variants, and the numbers run higher than most farmworkers are ever told. Figures computed by the engine.
The money, computed
The H variant on the spine is the highest of any occupation family this site has computed outside the safety classes — stooped labor is exactly what a broken back takes away, and the schedule says so.
The field-specific docket
Heat illness: compensable, preventable by law (shade, water, rest duties on the employer), and ratable when severe episodes damage organs. Pesticide and dust exposure: the respiratory-claim path, with wildfire-smoke seasons stacked on top. Repetitive stoop-and-cut trauma: classic CT, knife-and-shears hands, ladders and falls. Every one runs the same rating pipeline.
The three traps
The seasonal-wage trap: TD is built on average weekly wage, and seasonal earnings have special computation rules — a carrier that annualizes a harvest wage into poverty is lowballing; make them show the method. The labor-contractor shuffle: FLC and grower are typically both employers, and an uninsured contractor puts the UEBTF (and the grower) on the hook — nobody escapes by pointing. The status threat: coverage does not depend on immigration status, and threats to report are unlawful retaliation, not leverage. Piece-rate workers, the 1099 analysis favors you too.
Estimates for informational use; not legal advice.
Rate your spine right here
Same engine as the tables above — pick your occupation and age, slide the WPI from the report, and carry it into the full calculator when you’re ready.