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California workers try to secure benefits By Mary Fricker Press Democrat staff writer One million times a year, California workers seek help from their employers for an on-the-job injury. Most believe the state's workers compensation laws -- created at the turn of the century and overhauled four years ago -- will be a safety net. Instead, many will step into a world where, at perhaps one of the most vulnerable times in their lives, they …

…litigating through a special workers compensation court system. The 1993 legislation, which climaxed four years of overhaul efforts, had the primary goal of reducing costs to employers and raising benefits for some workers. Since then, average employer costs have fallen 34 percent. ''The people I represent, fully insured employers, are relatively happy,'' said Jim Contreras, vice president of the California Small Business Association. ''The employers have stepped up to the plate and won some victories.''