California workers' comp guides
Plain-English answers to the questions injured workers in California actually ask, written from the Labor Code, DWC regulations and official DWC guides. Each guide starts with the short answer, lists its sources and is dated.
Getting started
How to report a work injury in California
Tell your employer in writing within 30 days (Labor Code §5400), ask for a DWC-1 claim form, and get medical care. Step-by-step guide with what to…
How to file a workers' comp claim in California
Filing means completing the employee section of the DWC-1 and giving it to your employer. What your employer and the insurer must do next, with…
California workers' comp deadlines
Every deadline that matters in a California workers' comp case: 30-day notice, 90-day decision, one-year statute of limitations, 104 weeks of TD,…
Undocumented workers' rights to workers' comp
Immigration status does not matter for California workers' compensation. Undocumented workers get medical care, disability payments and other…
Independent contractors, misclassification and uninsured employers
Called an independent contractor? Under California's ABC test (LC §2775) you may be an employee entitled to workers' comp. What to do if your…
Benefits and money
What benefits does California workers' comp pay?
Medical care, temporary disability (2/3 of wages, $264.61–$1,764.11 a week in 2026), permanent disability, the $6,000 SJDB voucher, the $5,000…
How temporary disability pay is calculated in California
TD is two-thirds of your average weekly wage, between $264.61 and $1,764.11 per week for 2026 injuries. How average weekly wage is figured, partial…
When does temporary disability stop?
TD stops when you return to work, are released to work, reach maximum medical improvement, or hit 104 weeks within 5 years (LC §4656). Exceptions up…
Permanent disability, in plain English
How California permanent disability works: P&S/MMI, impairment ratings, the 1.4 modifier, age and occupation, apportionment, weekly PD rates…
Compromise and Release vs. Stipulated Award
The two ways a California workers' comp case usually ends: a Stipulated Award (PD paid over time, future medical stays open) or a Compromise and…
Returning to work, modified duty and retraining
What happens when your doctor releases you with restrictions: modified and alternative work, how TD is affected, the $6,000 SJDB voucher, the $5,000…
Workers' comp death benefits in California
When a California worker dies from a job injury, dependents can get up to $10,000 for burial and up to $320,000 in death benefits. Who qualifies and…
The supplemental job displacement benefit (SJDB voucher)
No job offer after a permanent work injury? You may get a $6,000 SJDB voucher for retraining and a $5,000 state supplement. Who qualifies, how to use…
Can I get workers' comp and state disability (SDI) at the same time?
Usually not both, but SDI can pay when workers' comp is delayed or denied, or pays less than SDI would. How the EDD lien works, and what to file so…
How to get the $5,000 Return-to-Work Supplement
Got an SJDB voucher? You may also qualify for a one-time $5,000 RTWSP payment. Who qualifies, the one-year deadline, what you need to apply online,…
Medical care
QME, AME and the panel QME process
When there's a medical dispute, a Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) or Agreed Medical Evaluator (AME) decides. How to request a panel (Form 105 or…
Medical provider networks (MPNs) and choosing your doctor
Who picks your doctor in a California workers' comp case: MPN rules, predesignating your personal physician, switching doctors, second opinions, and…
Utilization review and independent medical review (IMR)
When the insurer denies or modifies a treatment your doctor requested, you have 30 days to request independent medical review (10 days for MTUS-list…
Problems with your claim
Workers' comp claim denied: what to do next
A denial isn't the final word. Read the reason, get the QME process started, file an Application for Adjudication within one year, use your own…
Delays, late payments and penalties
Late TD or PD checks are automatically increased 10% (LC §4650(d)). Unreasonable delay or refusal can bring a penalty of up to 25%, capped at $10,000…
Retaliation for filing a claim (Labor Code §132a)
It's illegal to fire, demote, threaten or treat you worse for reporting a work injury or filing a workers' comp claim. Remedies under LC §132a…
The 90-day rule: Labor Code §5402
California insurers have 90 days from your DWC-1 claim form to deny. If they don't, the claim is presumed accepted. Plus $10,000 in care during the…
The one-year deadline: Labor Code §5405
California generally gives you one year to file an Application for Adjudication with the WCAB. When the clock starts, what resets it, and the 5-year…
Types of injuries
Cumulative trauma and repetitive injuries
Carpal tunnel, back and shoulder wear, hearing loss: how California handles cumulative trauma (CT) claims, the date-of-injury rule (LC §5412), which…
Stress, anxiety and PTSD: psychiatric injury claims
California covers work-caused psychiatric injuries if work events were the predominant cause (LC §3208.3). The six-month rule, violent-act exception,…
Heat illness at work: workers' comp and your safety rights
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke from work are covered by workers' comp. What Cal/OSHA's outdoor (8 CCR §3395) and indoor (§3396) heat rules require,…
Back, neck and disc injuries at work in California
Hurt your back or neck at work in California? How acute and cumulative spine claims work, getting an MRI approved, light duty, and how disability is…
COVID-19 and long COVID workers' comp claims in California
California's SB 1159 COVID presumptions expired January 1, 2024. What they covered, and how to prove a COVID or long-COVID work claim under today's…
Workers' comp presumptions for firefighters and peace officers
California's Labor Code §3212 series presumes certain illnesses of firefighters and peace officers are work-related: heart trouble, cancer, PTSD and…
Lawyers and the WCAB
Do I need a workers' comp lawyer? How fees work
When a California workers' comp attorney helps most, when you may not need one, and how fees work: set by a WCAB judge, typically 9%–15% of permanent…
What happens at the WCAB
How California's workers' comp court works: Application for Adjudication, Declaration of Readiness, expedited hearings, mandatory settlement…
Workers' comp in California cities
Workers' compensation in Los Angeles
Hurt at work in Los Angeles? Which WCAB office handles your ZIP code (downtown, Van Nuys, Marina del Rey or Long Beach), free state help, and next…
Workers' compensation in Long Beach
Long Beach work injuries are heard at the WCAB office on Hughes Way. Address, hours, free help, and what port, warehouse and refinery workers should…
Workers' compensation in San Diego
Every San Diego County ZIP code goes to the WCAB office in Mission Valley. Address, how hearings work, free state help, and injuries common in local…
Workers' compensation in San Jose
San Jose and Santa Clara County cases go to the WCAB office on Airport Parkway. Address, hours, free help, and issues for tech and manufacturing…
Workers' compensation in Sacramento
Sacramento County cases go to the WCAB office on Promenade Circle. Address, free help, and what state workers and public-safety employees should…
Workers' compensation in Fresno
Fresno County cases go to the WCAB office in the Hugh M. Burns building downtown. Address, free help, and heat, ladder and packing-house injury…
Workers' compensation in Oakland
Oakland and Alameda County cases go to the WCAB office in the Elihu Harris State Building. Address, free help, and port, warehouse and hospital…
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