What should I do after a work injury in California?

After a work injury in California, the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) lists the first steps as reporting the injury to the employer, getting medical care and filing the DWC 1 claim form. Written notice is due within 30 days of the injury (Labor Code 5400). The employer must give the worker a claim form within one working day of learning of an injury that needs more than first aid or costs time beyond the work shift (Labor Code 5401). Treatment must be authorized within one working day after the form is filed, and if the claim is not denied within 90 days, the injury is presumed compensable, or covered (Labor Code 5402).

How soon do I have to report a work injury?

Labor Code 5400 requires written notice to the employer within 30 days of the injury, signed by the injured worker or someone acting for the worker. Section 5402(a) adds that knowledge of the injury counts as notice when it reaches the employer, a managing agent, a superintendent, a foreman or another person in authority.

The DWC’s guidebook for injured workers says to make sure a supervisor or someone else in management knows as soon as possible. For an injury that develops over time, such as tendinitis or hearing loss, it says to report it once the worker learns or believes the job caused it. The later deadlines, including the one-year limit, are in how long you have to file a workers’ comp claim.

What is the DWC 1 claim form, and who gives it to me?

The DWC 1 is the state’s Workers’ Compensation Claim Form. Labor Code 5401(a) requires the employer to give it to the worker, in person or by first-class mail, within one working day of receiving notice or knowledge of the injury. That duty applies when the injury causes lost time beyond the work shift or needs medical treatment beyond first aid (guidebook, chapter 2). The section defines first aid as one-time treatment and follow-up observation of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters and similar minor injuries. If the employer does not provide the form, it is on the DWC forms page.

The worker fills out and signs the employee section and gives the form to the employer, which the guidebook calls “filing” the claim form. Under Labor Code 5401(c), the form counts as filed when it is handed to the employer or received by first-class or certified mail. That date starts the one-working-day treatment rule and the 90-day clock in section 5402.

The form’s instructions ask for a complete description of the injury, including every part of the body affected, and suggest first-class or certified mail with a return receipt if it is mailed. Within one working day of receiving it, the employer completes its section, gives the worker a dated copy and sends the form to the claims administrator, the person or company that handles the employer’s workers’ comp claims.

When does medical treatment start, and who pays for it?

Emergency care comes first. The guidebook says the employer must make sure the worker has access to emergency treatment right away.

For other care, Labor Code 5402(c) requires the employer to authorize treatment within one working day after the claim form is filed, consistent with the state’s treatment guidelines. The employer must keep providing it until the claim is accepted or rejected, and until then its liability for that treatment is limited to $10,000.

Which doctor treats first depends on the employer’s setup. If the employer or its insurer uses a medical provider network (MPN), a DWC-approved group of doctors who treat injured workers, treatment usually starts in the MPN. With no MPN or health care organization, the claims administrator usually chooses the first doctor (guidebook, chapter 3). The medical treatment and MPN page explains how doctors are chosen and changed.

Can I see my own doctor?

From the date of injury, generally only if that doctor was predesignated, meaning named to the employer in writing before the injury (Labor Code 4600(d)). The worker must have had health care coverage for non-work injuries and illnesses on the date of injury. The doctor must be the worker’s regular primary care physician, must have directed the worker’s past treatment and kept the records, and must have agreed to be predesignated.

The DWC publishes an optional form for this, DWC Form 9783, and the guidebook says a qualifying medical group can be predesignated as well.

With no MPN or health care organization, Labor Code 4600(c) allows a switch to a physician of the worker’s choice 30 days after the injury is reported. The DWC 1 form adds that a worker whose employer has not put up the required workers’ compensation poster may be able to see a personal physician right after the injury.

What will the claims administrator send?

The DWC 1 form says the claims administrator must tell the worker within 14 days whether the claim is accepted or needs more investigation. Temporary disability (TD) is the benefit that replaces part of lost wages. If the worker is off work, the first TD payment is due within 14 days after the employer knows of the injury and the disability, unless liability is denied first (Labor Code 4650(a)).

If the claims administrator cannot decide within 14 days whether TD is owed, it must send a delay letter that says why, what information it needs and when it expects to decide (guidebook, chapter 5). Later letters explain how payments were figured, why an amount changed or why benefits are ending.

An employer with an MPN must give the worker written information about it. The 2026 TD amounts are in what workers’ comp pays.

What are the time limits in the first 90 days?

Step	Who acts	Time limit	Rule
Emergency treatment	Employer makes sure it is available	Right away	DWC guidebook, ch. 1
Notice of the injury	Worker	30 days, in writing; a supervisor’s knowledge counts	LC 5400, 5402(a)
Claim form to the worker	Employer	1 working day after learning of an injury needing more than first aid or causing lost time beyond the shift	LC 5401(a)
Dated copy back to the worker, form to the claims administrator	Employer	1 working day after receiving the filed form	DWC 1 form; LC 5401(c)
Treatment authorized, up to $10,000 until the claim is decided	Employer or claims administrator	1 working day after the form is filed	LC 5402(c)
Notice that the claim is accepted or still under investigation	Claims administrator	14 days after the claim is filed	DWC 1 form
First TD payment, if the worker is off work	Claims administrator	14 days after knowledge of the injury and disability	LC 4650(a)
Accept or deny the claim	Claims administrator	90 days after the form is filed, or the injury is presumed compensable	LC 5402(b)

Sources: Labor Code 5400, 5401, 5402 and 4650; the DWC 1 claim form (revised January 1, 2016); the DWC Guidebook for Injured Workers, chapters 1 to 3 (seventh edition, May 2024). Read October 8, 2026.

What do people get wrong in the first week?

• Treating the report and the claim form as one step. Telling a supervisor satisfies the notice rule, but the 90-day decision clock and the $10,000 treatment rule in Labor Code 5402 run from the date the DWC 1 is filed.
• Waiting to see whether a minor injury heals. The guidebook says the employer must pay for medical care for a job injury whether or not the worker misses time from work. The 30-day notice period runs either way.
• Naming a personal doctor after the injury. Predesignation under Labor Code 4600(d) counts only if the employer had it in writing before the date of injury.
• Reading silence as a denial. Under Labor Code 5402(b), a claim not rejected within 90 days of the claim form is presumed compensable. That presumption can be rebutted only with evidence discovered after the 90 days.

What should I read next?

• The deadlines after the first 30 days, including the one-year limit: how long you have to file a workers’ comp claim.
• A denial letter: my workers’ comp claim was denied.
• The 2026 temporary disability rates: how much workers’ comp pays.
• A treatment request turned down: how independent medical review works.
• Doctors, MPNs and changing physicians: medical treatment and MPN doctors.

This page does not answer whether a particular injury is covered or what a particular letter means for one claim.

Where does the Law Office of Jesse Melendrez fit?

The DWC says most claims are resolved between injured workers and claims administrators without problems, and its Information and Assistance officers answer questions for workers handling their own claims. Its guidebook describes what an applicants’ attorney, the injured worker’s lawyer, does: gather information to support the claim, keep track of deadlines and represent the worker at hearings before a workers’ compensation judge.

The Law Office of Jesse Melendrez is in Newport Beach. We limit our practice to California workers’ compensation and represent injured workers only, with cases at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board district offices in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego. Attorney Jesse Melendrez (State Bar of California #263751) has represented injured workers since 2009.

This page explains how the process works. It is not legal advice about your claim. If you would like us to look at yours, tell us what happened.