Workers' comp
Stipulations with request for award (Stips)
A WC settlement where the parties agree on the facts, such as the PD rating, and ask a judge to issue an award, usually leaving future medical care open.
What Stips are
Stipulations with request for award are a written agreement on the facts of a claim, typically the body parts, earnings, temporary disability periods and the permanent disability rating, filed with a request that the WCAB issue an award on them. Unlike a compromise and release, the award is paid as PD over time (less any advances) and normally provides future medical treatment.
The rule
The parties to a controversy may stipulate the facts in writing and file the stipulation with the Appeals Board, which may make its findings and award on it or set the matter for hearing (Labor Code section 5702). As with a C&R, the judge reviews adequacy and the parties file the relevant medical reports (8 CCR 10700). An award can be reopened for new and further disability on a petition filed within five years of the date of injury (Labor Code sections 5410 and 5804).
Why it matters to an applicant firm
Stips suit clients who need continuing medical care for the injury and whose PD rating is settled. The five-year reopening window is a deadline the firm keeps after the case "closes": a worsening condition inside five years can support a petition for new and further disability, and one filed late is lost. Firms calendar the five-year date at the award and note it in the closing letter. The C&R vs stipulations guide covers how to choose.
Sources
- Cal. Labor Code § 5702
- Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10700 (Approval of Settlements)
- Cal. Labor Code § 5410
General information about California and federal rules, not legal advice. Rules change and every case turns on its facts: check the statute and your own analysis before relying on a date or a figure.