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For workersWorkers' comp deadlines in California
You have 30 days to report a work injury to your employer, your employer has one working day after that to hand you the claim form, the claims administrator has 90 days after you file it to deny the claim or it is presumed valid, and you have one year from the injury (or from the last benefit paid) to file a case with the appeals board. Benefits can be reopened for five years from the date of injury.
The clock starts on the date of injury
Almost every deadline in a California workers' compensation claim counts from the date of injury. For a specific injury, that is the day it happened. For a cumulative injury, the law supplies a date: the first day you had disability from the condition and knew, or should reasonably have known, that work caused it (Labor Code §5412). Enter that date below and the tool dates everything else.
Date your deadlines
The rules, one by one
| Event | Runs from | Time | Labor Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last day to give your employer written notice of the injury | date of injury | 30 days | LC §5400 |
| Employer must give you the claim form (DWC-1) and notice of potential eligibility | employer's notice or knowledge of the injury | 1 working day | LC §5401(a) |
| Employer must authorize medical treatment for the injury (up to $10,000 while the claim is pending) | claim form filed | 1 working day | LC §5402(c) |
| Claim is presumed compensable if not denied by this date | claim form filed | 90 days | LC §5402(b) |
| One-year deadline to file an Application for Adjudication of Claim with the WCAB | date of injury | 1 year | LC §5405 |
| Five-year window to claim new and further disability closes | date of injury | 5 years | LC §5410 |
| Cumulative injury: date of injury | For cumulative injuries and occupational diseases there is no single accident date. The date of injury is the first day you both had disability from the condition and knew, or reasonably should have known, that work caused it. Every deadline above runs from that date. | LC §5412 | |
30 days to tell your employer
A claim cannot be maintained unless the employer had written notice of the injury within 30 days (Labor Code §5400). The rule is softer than it reads. An employer, supervisor or anyone in authority who learns of the injury from any source is treated as having received notice (Labor Code §5402(a)), and a late notice defeats the claim only if the employer was misled or prejudiced by it. Report it anyway, in writing, as soon as you can; the written record is what protects you later.
One working day for the claim form
Once the employer has notice or knowledge of an injury that causes lost time beyond the shift or needs more than first aid, it must give or mail you a claim form (DWC-1) and a notice of potential eligibility within one working day (Labor Code §5401(a)). The form and notice are a single document in English and Spanish. You complete the employee section and return it; the claim is "filed" when the employer receives it in person or by mail, and the employer must give you a dated copy (Labor Code §5401(c)). The how to file page walks through the form.
Treatment starts the day after you file
Within one working day after you file the claim form, the employer must authorize all treatment for the alleged injury, consistent with the treatment guidelines, until the claim is accepted or denied. Until a decision is made, the employer's liability for that treatment is capped at $10,000 (Labor Code §5402(c)). Treatment paid under this rule is not an admission that the claim is valid (Labor Code §5402(d)).
What the adjuster is doing in the 90 days
The claims administrator uses the window to take your statement, get the employer's report, pull wage records and medical reports, and decide whether to accept, deny or delay with a written explanation. A "delay letter" inside the 90 days is normal and is not a denial; it tells you what is still missing. Silence past day 90 is what triggers the presumption.
90 days to deny, or the claim is presumed valid
If liability is not rejected within 90 days after the claim form is filed, the injury is presumed compensable. The presumption can be rebutted only with evidence that could not reasonably have been discovered within those 90 days (Labor Code §5402(b)). A shorter 75-day period applies to certain listed injuries and illnesses.
One year to file with the appeals board
Proceedings to collect benefits must begin within one year of the latest of: the date of injury; the last day of a period covered by temporary disability payments; or the last date medical treatment was furnished (Labor Code §5405). "Begin proceedings" means filing an Application for Adjudication of Claim at a Workers' Compensation Appeals Board district office. Filing the DWC-1 with your employer pauses this period until the claim is denied or becomes presumptively compensable (Labor Code §5401(d)). The calculator shows the date-of-injury version; if you received benefits, the deadline is later.
Five years to reopen
A worker whose original injury causes new and further disability can petition the appeals board within five years of the date of injury (Labor Code §5410), and the board keeps continuing jurisdiction over an award for the same five years (Labor Code §5803). This is why a stipulated award can be revisited and a compromise and release cannot: the settlement waives the right to reopen. After five years the award is fixed, apart from benefits it already provides.
When a deadline is missed
The consequences differ by rule. Missing the 30-day notice is rarely fatal; missing the one-year filing deadline without a tolling event usually is; the five-year window is a hard limit on reopening. The employer's and claims administrator's deadlines carry their own consequences: a late first payment adds an automatic 10% increase (Labor Code §4650(d)), and a late denial runs into the presumption. If you are unsure which deadline applies to your claim, an Information and Assistance officer at the DWC will tell you without charge (1-800-736-7401), and a workers' compensation attorney is paid from the award only if there is one.
Questions people ask
I reported the injury late. Is my claim dead?
Usually not. The 30-day rule in Labor Code §5400 is satisfied whenever the employer learns of the injury from any source, including a supervisor seeing it happen (Labor Code §5402(a)), and a late notice only matters if the employer was actually prejudiced by it. Report it now, in writing.
Does filing the DWC-1 claim form stop the one-year clock?
Yes, for injuries on or after January 1, 1994. Filing the completed claim form with your employer pauses the one-year period until the claim is denied or becomes presumptively compensable after 90 days (Labor Code §5401(d)).
My injury built up over years. What is my date of injury?
For a cumulative injury or occupational disease the date of injury is the first day you both had disability from the condition and knew, or reasonably should have known, that it was caused by work (Labor Code §5412). Every deadline runs from that date, not from the first symptom.
What is the 90-day presumption worth?
If the claims administrator has not denied the claim within 90 days after you file the claim form, the injury is presumed compensable, and the presumption can only be rebutted with evidence that could not reasonably have been found within those 90 days (Labor Code §5402(b)). In practice it means a late denial has to clear a high bar.
Sources
- Labor Code 5400: Notice of injury within 30 days, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S122.
- Labor Code 5401: Claim form within one working day; $10,000 treatment, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S123.
- Labor Code 5402: 90-day presumption of compensability, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S124.
- Labor Code 5405: One-year statute of limitations, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S125.
- Labor Code 5410: Five-year reopening, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S126.
- Labor Code 5412: Cumulative injury date of injury, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S127.
- Labor Code 5803: Continuing jurisdiction, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S128.
- Labor Code 4650: Timing of TD/PD payments; 10% self-imposed increase, California Legislature via california.public.law (cites leginfo), current. Manifest S102.
- DWC Information & Assistance Unit (district offices, 1-800-736-7401), DIR / DWC, current. Manifest S72.
- Workers' Compensation in California: A Guidebook for Injured Workers, DIR / DWC, 2026. Manifest S01.
Richard Vaughn spent 35 years in commercial property and casualty insurance, most of it in workers' compensation: running a self-insured group, auditing premiums, and implementing claims systems for carriers and third-party administrators. He is not an attorney. dickvaughn.com