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Before you use this table, read one rule.
In a cumulative trauma or occupational disease claim, the "date of injury" is not when the wear or exposure began.
Labor Code § 5412 sets it as the date you first suffered disability and knew, or reasonably should have known, it was caused by the employment. Both are required.
Almost every deadline below runs off that date, and getting it wrong is how valid claims get abandoned. How cumulative trauma works.
Reporting and filing
| Deadline | What it governs | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Report the injury to your employer — but knowledge by any supervisor, foreman, or person in authority, from any source, is equivalent to notice, and late notice does not bar a claim absent actual prejudice | §§ 5400, 5402(a), 5403 |
| 1 working day | Employer must give you a DWC-1 claim form | § 5401 |
| 1 working day | Employer must authorize treatment — up to $10,000 — while liability is investigated, and the duty runs until liability is accepted or rejected, not past a rejection | § 5402(c) |
| 14 days | Claims administrator must accept, delay, or deny in writing | 8 CCR § 9812 |
| 90 days | If liability is not rejected, the injury is presumed compensable — rebuttable only by evidence discovered after the 90 days | § 5402(b) |
| 1 year | File the Application for Adjudication with the WCAB | § 5405 |
Benefits and payments
| Deadline | What it governs | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 14 days | First temporary disability payment, from knowledge of injury and disability | § 4650(a) |
| Every 2 weeks | All payments after the first | § 4650(c) |
| Automatic | A late indemnity payment is increased 10%, "without application" | § 4650(d) |
| 2 years | § 5814 penalty for unreasonable delay, from when the payment was due | § 5814(g) |
| 90 days | Employer's window to self-impose a 10% penalty and resolve a delay | § 5814(b) |
Medical
| Deadline | What it governs | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Request IMR after a UR denial — and a modification is a denial of what was left out | §§ 4610.5, 4610.6 |
| 30 days | MPN independent medical review findings after examination — 3 days expedited | § 4616.4 |
| 14 days | The home health care lookback. The employer is not liable for care provided more than 14 days before it received the physician's prescription | § 4600(h) |
Litigation
| Deadline | What it governs | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 10 calendar days | Object to a Declaration of Readiness — or all objections are deemed waived | 8 CCR § 10744 |
| 10–30 days | Mandatory Settlement Conference is set after a DOR | § 5502(d) |
| At the MSC | DISCOVERY CLOSES. Undisclosed evidence is inadmissible | § 5502(d)(3) |
| 75 days | Trial, after the DOR is filed | § 5502(d) |
| 20 days | Petition for Reconsideration — only from a final order; a non-final order takes a Petition for Removal | § 5903 |
| 60 days from transmittal | The Board must act or the petition is deemed denied — the 60 days runs from the date a trial judge transmits the case to the Board, made permanent by SB 171 on July 13, 2026 | § 5909 |
| 45 days | Petition for Writ of Review to the Court of Appeal |
Penalties and separate claims
| Deadline | What it governs | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months from the injury | § 4553 serious and willful misconduct petition — +50%, uninsurable | § 5407 |
| 1 year | § 132a discrimination petition | § 132a |
| 2 years | Most third-party personal injury claims | |
| 6 months | Present a claim against a government entity |
Reopening and death
| Deadline | What it governs | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 5 years from the DATE OF INJURY | Reopen for new and further disability | §§ 5410, 5804 |
| 1 year from death, and no more than 240 weeks from the date of injury | Death benefit claim — whichever runs out first controls | § 5406(b) |
| 1 year from death, no 240-week cap | Death of an asbestos worker or firefighter from asbestosis | § 5406.5 |
| 420 weeks from the date of injury, and within 1 year of death | Death from cancer (§ 3212.1), tuberculosis (§ 3212.6) or blood-borne infectious disease (§ 3212.8) — the public-safety presumptions. 180 weeks longer than the general rule. | § 5406.7 |
| 1 year from death | HIV-related death of a health care worker, a § 3212 employee, or a Penal Code § 830.5 worker | § 5406.6 |
The two that are miscounted most often
§ 5410 — five years from the DATE OF INJURY. Not from the settlement. Not from the award. Not from when you got worse.
Injured 2021, settled 2025 → you have one year. Injured 2019, settled 2024 → already gone. More.
§ 5406(b) — 240 weeks is four years and seven months from the date of injury. In an occupational disease death, where § 5412 sets the date of injury at first disability plus knowledge, that outer limit can expire while the worker is still alive. More.
And if one has run, others may not have
A new injury is a new claim with its own date of injury — including a new cumulative trauma from work performed since. The most commonly missed route.
Future medical may still be open on a Stipulated Award, and treatment disputes remain contestable through UR and IMR regardless of the five-year reopening limit.
A third-party claim exists outside the comp file entirely, with its own limitations period.
And a § 132a or FEHA claim from a termination has its own deadlines. Both routes.
Do not decide on your own that you are out of time. Why that conclusion is usually wrong.
Sources
Rates: DWC Newsline 2025-116 (2026 TD rates) · 2026-02 and 2026-60 (mileage) · Newsline 2021-109 (corrected 2022 rates, superseding 2021-93)
Labor Code: § 4453 · § 4551 · § 4553 · § 4600 · § 4610.5 · § 4610.6 · § 4616.4 · § 4650 · § 4658 · § 4656 · § 4659 · § 4702 · § 4706.5 · § 4906 · § 5400 · § 5401 · § 5402 · § 5403 · § 5405 · § 5406 · § 5406.5 · § 5407 · § 5410 · § 5412 · § 5502 · § 5804 · § 5814 · § 5903 · § 5909 (version history, AB 171, Stats. 2024, ch. 52, §§ 27–28; SB 171, Stats. 2026, ch. 83) · § 6401.9 · § 132a
Regulations: 8 CCR §§ 9792.9.1–9792.9.8 (UR, restructured April 1, 2026) · § 10744 · § 10759 · § 9812 · 8 CCR § 3395, § 3396 · MTUS, shoulder and hand/wrist guidelines effective January 2, 2026
Legislation: SB 171 (SIBTF) · AB 394 (transit workers, eff. Oct. 1, 2025) · SB 230 and AB 1125 (Ch. 404, Ch. 291, Stats. 2025) · AB 1336 (vetoed Oct. 15, 2025)
Decisions: Baker v. WCAB (2011) 52 Cal.4th 434 · Nunes v. State of California, DMV (2023, WCAB en banc) and Nunes II · Havanis, Fiore, Cano (2024 panel decisions) · Reed v. County of San Bernardino (2024, significant panel) · Zenith Ins. Co. v. WCAB (Hernandez) (2025) 110 Cal.App.5th 1164 · Rader v. Ticketmaster (2026, significant panel) · Guzman v. ADCO Roofing (2026, panel)
General information about California law, not legal advice about your case.
Law Offices of Solov & Teitell, APC · (213) 380-9310 · 24/7 (213) 463-6469
Printed from https://www.solovteitell.com/resources/deadlines/ · Last reviewed 2026-08-23