As soon as possible. There is no benefit to waiting. By law, you must tell your supervisor about your injury within 30 days.
Report the injury as early as you can. You can get an earlier start on your treatment and recovery. You can file for workers compensation earlier, so that you recover all of the compensation you deserve.
Your employer is not allowed to retaliate against you. Filing for workers compensation is a protected activity. If you believe your employer has done so, contact us at once.
For a free case evaluation, contact work injury lawyer Belal Hamideh. He’ll sit down with you and go over your case, so that you can receive everything you deserve.
Work Injury Laws Regarding Reporting, Employer Responsibilities, and More
California Code, Labor Code – LAB § 5405
The period within which proceedings may be commenced for the collection of the benefits provided by Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 4650), or both, of Chapter 2 of Part 2 is one year from any of the following:
(a) The date of injury.
(b) The expiration of any period covered by payment under Article 3 (commencing with Section 4650) of Chapter 2 of Part 2.
(c) The last date on which any benefits provided for in Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 were furnished.
California Code, Labor Code – LAB § 5401
<For Executive Order N-62-20 (2019 CA EO 62-20), relating to the rebuttable presumption that COVID-19-related illnesses came from the course of employment for purposes of workers’ compensation, see Historical and Statutory Notes under Labor Code § 5402.>
(a) Within one working day of receiving notice or knowledge of injury under Section 5400 or 5402, which injury results in lost time beyond the employee’s work shift at the time of injury or which results in medical treatment beyond first aid, the employer shall provide, personally or by first-class mail, a claim form and a notice of potential eligibility for benefits under this division to the injured employee, or in the case of death, to his or her dependents. As used in this subdivision, “first aid” means any one-time treatment, and any followup visit for the purpose of observation of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, or other minor industrial injury, which do not ordinarily require medical care. This one-time treatment, and followup visit for the purpose of observation, is considered first aid even though provided by a physician or registered professional personnel. “Minor industrial injury” shall not include serious exposure to a hazardous substance as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 6302. The claim form shall request the injured employee’s name and address, social security number, the time and address where the injury occurred, and the nature of and part of the body affected by the injury. Claim forms shall be available at district offices of the Employment Development Department and the division. Claim forms may be made available to the employee from any other source.
(b) Insofar as practicable, the notice of potential eligibility for benefits required by this section and the claim form shall be a single document and shall instruct the injured employee to fully read the notice of potential eligibility. The form and content of the notice and claim form shall be prescribed by the administrative director after consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation. The notice shall be easily understandable and available in both English and Spanish. The content shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) The procedure to be used to commence proceedings for the collection of compensation for the purposes of this chapter.
(2) A description of the different types of workers’ compensation benefits.
(3) What happens to the claim form after it is filed.
(4) From whom the employee can obtain medical care for the injury.
(5) The role and function of the primary treating physician.
(6) The rights of an employee to select and change the treating physician pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 3550 and Section 4600.
(7) How to get medical care while the claim is pending.
(8) The protections against discrimination provided pursuant to Section 132a.
(9) The following written statements:
(A) You have a right to disagree with decisions affecting your claim.
(B) To obtain important information about the workers’ compensation claims process and your rights and obligations, go to [applicable Internet Web site(s)], or contact an information and assistance (I&A) officer of the state Division of Workers’ Compensation. You can also hear recorded information and a list of local I&A offices by calling [applicable information and assistance telephone number(s)].
(C) You can consult an attorney. Most attorneys offer one free consultation. If you decide to hire an attorney, his or her fee will be taken out of some of your benefits. For names of workers’ compensation attorneys, call the State Bar of California at [telephone number of the State Bar of California’s legal specialization program, or its equivalent].
(c) The completed claim form shall be filed with the employer by the injured employee, or, in the case of death, by a dependent of the injured employee, or by an agent of the employee or dependent. Except as provided in subdivision (d), a claim form is deemed filed when it is personally delivered to the employer or received by the employer by first-class or certified mail. A dated copy of the completed form shall be provided by the employer to the employer’s insurer and to the employee, dependent, or agent who filed the claim form.
(d) The claim form shall be filed with the employer prior to the injured employee’s entitlement to late payment supplements under subdivision (d) of Section 4650, or prior to the injured employee’s request for a medical evaluation under Section 4060, 4061, or 4062. Filing of the claim form with the employer shall toll, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 1994, the time limitations set forth in Sections 5405 and 5406 until the claim is denied by the employer or the injury becomes presumptively compensable pursuant to Section 5402. For purposes of this subdivision, a claim form is deemed filed when it is personally delivered to the employer or mailed to the employer by first-class or certified mail.
California Code, Labor Code – LAB § 5400
Except as provided by sections 5402 and 5403, no claim to recover compensation under this division shall be maintained unless within thirty days after the occurrence of the injury which is claimed to have caused the disability or death, there is served upon the employer notice in writing, signed by the person injured or someone in his behalf, or in case of the death of the person injured, by a dependent or someone in the dependent’s behalf.California Code, Labor Code – LAB § 3351
“Employee” means every person in the service of an employer under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed, and includes:
(a) Persons who are not citizens or nationals of the United States and minors.
(b) All elected and appointed paid public officers.
(c) All officers and members of boards of directors of quasi-public or private corporations while rendering actual service for the corporations for pay. An officer or member of a board of directors may elect to be excluded from coverage in accordance with paragraph (16), (18), or (19) of subdivision (a) of Section 3352.
(d) Except as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 3352, any person employed by the owner or occupant of a residential dwelling whose duties are incidental to the ownership, maintenance, or use of the dwelling, including the care and supervision of children, or whose duties are personal and not in the course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of the owner or occupant.
(e) All persons incarcerated in a state penal or correctional institution while engaged in assigned work or employment as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 10021 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, or engaged in work performed under contract.
(f) All working members of a partnership or limited liability company receiving wages irrespective of profits from the partnership or limited liability company. A general partner of a partnership or a managing member of a limited liability company may elect to be excluded from coverage in accordance with paragraph (17) of subdivision (a) of Section 3352.
(g) A person who holds the power to revoke a trust, with respect to shares of a private corporation held in trust or general partnership or limited liability company interests held in trust. To the extent that this person is deemed to be an employee described in subdivision (c) or (f), as applicable, the person may also elect to be excluded from coverage as described in subdivision (c) or (f), as applicable, if that person otherwise meets the criteria for exclusion, as described in Section 3352.
(h) A person committed to a state hospital facility under the State Department of State Hospitals, as defined in Section 4100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, while engaged in and assigned work in a vocation rehabilitation program, including a sheltered workshop.
(i) Beginning on July 1, 2020, any individual who is an employee pursuant to Section 2750.3. This subdivision shall not apply retroactively.
California Code, Labor Code – LAB § 3700
Every employer except the state shall secure the payment of compensation in one or more of the following ways:
(a) By being insured against liability to pay compensation by one or more insurers duly authorized to write compensation insurance in this state.
(b) By securing from the Director of Industrial Relations a certificate of consent to self-insure either as an individual employer, or as one employer in a group of employers, which may be given upon furnishing proof satisfactory to the Director of Industrial Relations of ability to self-insure and to pay any compensation that may become due to his or her employees.
(c) For any county, city, city and county, municipal corporation, public district, public agency, or any political subdivision of the state, including each member of a pooling arrangement under a joint exercise of powers agreement (but not the state itself), by securing from the Director of Industrial Relations a certificate of consent to self-insure against workers’ compensation claims, which certificate may be given upon furnishing proof satisfactory to the director of ability to administer workers’ compensation claims properly, and to pay workers’ compensation claims that may become due to its employees. On or before March 31, 1979, a political subdivision of the state which, on December 31, 1978, was uninsured for its liability to pay compensation, shall file a properly completed and executed application for a certificate of consent to self-insure against workers’ compensation claims. The certificate shall be issued and be subject to the provisions of Section 3702.
For purposes of this section, “state” shall include the superior courts of California.
California Code, Labor Code – LAB § 5402
(a) Knowledge of an injury, obtained from any source, on the part of an employer, the employer’s managing agent, superintendent, foreman, or other person in authority, or knowledge of the assertion of a claim of injury sufficient to afford opportunity to the employer to make an investigation into the facts, is equivalent to service under Section 5400.
(b)(1) If liability is not rejected within 90 days after the date the claim form is filed under Section 5401, the injury shall be presumed compensable under this division. The presumption of this subdivision is rebuttable only by evidence discovered subsequent to the 90-day period.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for injuries or illnesses defined in Sections 3212 to 3212.85, inclusive, and Sections 3212.9 to 3213.2, inclusive, if the liability is not rejected within 75 days after the date the claim form is filed pursuant to Section 5401, the injury shall be presumed compensable under this division. The presumption of this subdivision is rebuttable only by evidence discovered subsequent to the 75-day period.
(c) Within one working day after an employee files a claim form under Section 5401, the employer shall authorize the provision of all treatment, consistent with Section 5307.27, for the alleged injury and shall continue to provide the treatment until the date that liability for the claim is accepted or rejected. Until the date the claim is accepted or rejected, liability for medical treatment shall be limited to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(d) Treatment provided under subdivision (c) does not give rise to a presumption of liability on the part of the employer.
(e) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Division of Workers’ Compensation shall identify and amend its existing data collection processes to include collection of the date on which the claimant is notified of acceptance, denial, or conditional denial of liability for a claim, consistent with this section.