“My employer says I can’t file.”

The things employers say, and what is actually true

“You weren’t on the clock.” Whether an injury arose out of and occurred in the course of employment is a legal question, and the boundaries are wider than most employers think. It is not decided in the parking lot.

“You’re a contractor, not an employee.” The law presumes that any person rendering service for another is an employee. Misclassification is not a defense — it is a factual question about control, and the burden is on the employer. Being paid in cash or on a 1099 does not remove you from the system.

“We don’t have insurance.” Then you have two claims. The Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust FundUEBTF Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund. Pays benefits where the employer was illegally uninsured. pays benefits, and the law permits a civil action against the employer — where § 3708 presumes negligence and bars contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, and the fellow-servant defense. How that works.

“You’ll be fired.” The law makes discharge or discrimination for filing a claim unlawful — and a misdemeanor. It also is usually not your largest claim; FEHA disability discrimination has no cap. Both routes.

“We’ll take care of it off the books.” This is the most damaging one, because it sounds generous. It usually means no permanent disabilityPD Permanent Disability. Compensation for lasting impairment. A different and much lower weekly rate — 2026 maximum $290/week., no lifetime medical, no record, and a deadline running out while you wait. It also does not bind them to anything.

“You’ll get deported.” False, and unlawful. Immigration status does not affect eligibility for California workers’ compensation benefits, and threatening someone over it is retaliation.

What to do today

Get the DWC-1DWC-1 The claim form. Filing it starts the 90-day presumption and the $10,000 treatment obligation. claim form. Your employer must give you one within one working day of learning about the injury. If they will not, download it from the DWCDWC Division of Workers’ Compensation, part of the Department of Industrial Relations. Administers the system. Information Services Center: 1-800-736-7401. and file it yourself.

Fill out the employee section, sign it, date it, and deliver it — certified mail or hand delivery. Keep a copy showing the date.

That date matters more than almost anything else in your claim:

• § 5402(c): the employer must authorize treatment within one working day — up to $10,000 while the claim is investigated
• § 5402(b): if liability is not rejected within 90 days, the injury is presumed compensable

Put the report in writing — text or email — even if you already told someone. The law makes knowledge by any supervisor or person in authority, from any source, sufficient notice, but written proof of it is better than a memory.

Get medical care. Tell the provider it happened at work.

And write down the timeline while it is fresh. Dates, names, exact words.