How long do I have to file a workers' compensation claim in California?

Two deadlines apply: notify your employer of a work injury within 30 days under Labor Code section 5400, and file an Application for Adjudication with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board generally within one year of the injury under section 5405. For cumulative trauma, the clock runs from when you knew the disability was work-related (section 5412).

Two deadlines matter, and the first is only 30 days. Labor Code section 5400 requires giving the employer notice of a work injury within 30 days; prompt written notice on the DWC-1 claim form the employer must provide (section 5401) is the clean way to do it. The formal case, an Application for Adjudication with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, must generally be filed within one year of the injury (section 5405). For cumulative trauma, like repetitive strain or occupational disease, the date of injury is when the worker first suffered disability and knew, or should have known, it was work-related (section 5412), which often pushes the deadline later. If the employer furnished benefits, the year can run from the last benefit provided (section 5405(c)), and the employer's failure to give required claim-form notice can toll deadlines. Workers' compensation is no-fault (section 3600): benefits do not depend on employer negligence, and the injured worker's own carelessness is no bar.

Authority: Cal. Lab. Code § 5405