How long, and from what
- 30 calendar daysTell the employer about the injury in writingfrom date of injury · Lab. Code § 5400
- 1 business dayEmployer gives the claim formfrom employer learns of the injury · Lab. Code § 5401(a)
- 1 yearStart proceedings at the WCABfrom date of injury / last day covered by disability payments / last day medical treatment was provided · Lab. Code § 5405
Lab. Code § 5400: 30 calendar days from date of injury. Who acts: the employee.
Enter the date.
What the statute says
Lab. Code § 5400
“within thirty days after the occurrence of the injury which is claimed to have caused the disability or death, there is served upon the employer notice in writing”
Lab. Code § 5401(a)
“Within one working day of receiving notice or knowledge of injury under Section 5400 or 5402”
Lab. Code § 5405
“is one year from any of the following: (a) The date of injury. (b) The expiration of any period covered by payment under Article 3 (commencing with Section 4650) of Chapter 2 of Part 2. (c) The last date on which any benefits provided for in Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 were furnished.”
Full text of Labor Code § 5400
Except as provided by sections 5402 and 5403, no claim to recover compensation under this division shall be maintained unless within thirty days after the occurrence of the injury which is claimed to have caused the disability or death, there is served upon the employer notice in writing, signed by the person injured or someone in his behalf, or in case of the death of the person injured, by a dependent or someone in the dependent’s behalf.
§ 5400 on SimilarCase →Official text · leginfo.legislature.ca.gov →
Full text of Labor Code § 5401
(a) Within one working day of receiving notice or knowledge of injury under Section 5400 or 5402, which injury results in lost time beyond the employee’s work shift at the time of injury or which results in medical treatment beyond first aid, the employer shall provide, personally or by first-class mail, a claim form and a notice of potential eligibility for benefits under this division to the injured employee, or in the case of death, to his or her dependents. As used in this subdivision, “first aid” means any one-time treatment, and any followup visit for the purpose of observation of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, or other minor industrial injury, which do not ordinarily require medical care. This one-time treatment, and followup visit for the purpose of observation, is considered first aid even though provided by a physician or registered professional personnel. “Minor industrial injury” shall not include serious exposure to a hazardous substance as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 6302. The claim form shall request the injured employee’s name and address, social security number, the time and address where the injury occurred, and the nature of and part of the body affected by the injury. Claim forms shall be available at district offices of the Employment Development Department and the division. Claim forms may be made available to the employee from any other source. (b) Insofar as practicable, the notice of potential eligibility for benefits required by this section and the claim form shall be a single document and shall instruct the injured employee to fully read the notice of potential eligibility. The form and content of the notice and claim form shall be prescribed by the administrative director after consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation. The notice shall be easily understandable and available in both English and Spanish. The content shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) The procedure to be used to commence proceedings for the collection of compensation for the purposes of this chapter. (2) A description of the different types of workers’ compensation benefits. (3) What happens to the claim form after it is filed. (4) From whom the employee can obtain medical care for the injury. (5) The role and function of the primary treating physician. (6) The rights of an employee to select and change the treating physician pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 3550 and Section 4600. (7) How to get medical care while the claim is pending. (8) The protections against discrimination provided pursuant to Section 132a. (9) The following written statements: (A) You have a right to disagree with decisions affecting your claim. (B) To obtain important information about the workers’ compensation claims process and your rights and obligations, go to [applicable Internet Web site(s)], or contact an information and assistance (I&A) officer of the state Division of Workers’ Compensation. You can also hear recorded information and a list of local I&A offices by calling [applicable information and assistance telephone number(s)]. (C) You can consult an attorney. Most attorneys offer one free consultation. If you decide to hire an attorney, his or her fee will be taken out of some of your benefits. For names of workers’ compensation attorneys, call the State Bar of California at [telephone number of the State Bar of California’s legal specialization program, or its equivalent]. (c) The completed claim form shall be filed with the employer by the injured employee, or, in the case of death, by a dependent of the injured employee, or by an agent of the employee or dependent. Except as provided in subdivision (d), a claim form is deemed filed when it is personally delivered to the employer or received by the employer by first-class or certified mail. A dated copy of the completed form shall be provided by the employer to the employer’s insurer and to the employee, dependent, or agent who filed the claim form. (d) The claim form shall be filed with the employer prior to the injured employee’s entitlement to late payment supplements under subdivision (d) of Section 4650, or prior to the injured employee’s request for a medical evaluation under Section 4060, 4061, or 4062. Filing of the claim form with the employer shall toll, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 1994, the time limitations set forth in Sections 5405 and 5406 until the claim is denied by the employer or the injury becomes presumptively compensable pursuant to Section 5402. For purposes of this subdivision, a claim form is deemed filed when it is personally delivered to the employer or mailed to the employer by first-class or certified mail.
§ 5401 on SimilarCase →Official text · leginfo.legislature.ca.gov →
Full text of Labor Code § 5405
The period within which proceedings may be commenced for the collection of the benefits provided by Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 4650), or both, of Chapter 2 of Part 2 is one year from any of the following: (a) The date of injury. (b) The expiration of any period covered by payment under Article 3 (commencing with Section 4650) of Chapter 2 of Part 2. (c) The last date on which any benefits provided for in Article 2 (commencing with Section 4600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 were furnished.
§ 5405 on SimilarCase →Official text · leginfo.legislature.ca.gov →
How the days are counted
8 CCR § 10600(a)
“is computed by excluding the first day and including the last”
8 CCR § 10600(b)
“the act or response may be performed or exercised upon the next business day”
Business days skip weekends and the days WCAB offices are closed, from the CalHR holiday list. A last day on a weekend or WCAB holiday moves to the next business day where the rule allows it; elsewhere the calculator keeps the day and says it is closed.
When it passes — and when it moves
Late notice does not bar the claim unless the employer was in fact misled or prejudiced (§ 5403). The one-year limit is an affirmative defense: it bars the remedy only if the employer raises it before the case is submitted, and it can be waived (§ 5409).
Filing the claim form with the employer tolls the one-year limit until the claim is denied or the injury is presumed compensable (§ 5401(c)); the calculator does not add that time. For a cumulative injury the date of injury itself is set under § 5412.
What the Appeals Board said about this deadline
Newest released decisions whose stated standard names § 5400 or § 5401 or § 5405, each with the passage it turned on and the official PDF. Litigated tail, not a count of how often the deadline is missed.
- ADJ20958335 · 2026-08-03 · San Bernardino District Office§ 5405
Determinative passage · p.4With regard to the statute of limitations issue, the running of the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, and the burden of proving it is on the party opposing the claim. (Lab. Code, § 5409; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (Martin) (1985) 39 Cal.3d 57, 67, fn. 8 [50 Cal.Comp.Cases 411].) The burden is on defendant to show when the statute of limitations began to run, “starting from any and all three points designated [in Labor Code section 5405].” (Colonial Ins. Co. v. Industrial Acc. Com. (Nickles) (1945) 27 Cal.2d 437, 441 [10 Cal.Comp.Cases 321].) The three points designated in section 5405 are date of injury (Lab. Code, § 5405, subd. (a)); the last payment of disability indemnity (Lab. Code, § 5405, subd. (b)); and the last date on which medical treatment benefits were furnished (Lab. Code, § 5405, subd. (c).) A claim is timely if it is filed within a year of the latest of these three points.
The WCJ found the statute of limitations began running at employment cessation, but the WCAB ordered further development to clarify disability status at that time.
Official decision · page 4 → - ADJ10326531 · 2026-07-21 · Anaheim District Office§ 5401
Determinative passage · p.3(c).) A claim is timely if it is filed within a year of the latest of these three points. Here, applicant was not provided medical or disability benefits, so the applicable date is the date of injury. However, applicant’s wife testified that within a year of the date of injury, prior to the expiration of the one-year Labor Code section 5405(a) statute of limitations, she filed a DWC-1 claim form with the employer in October of 2015. (Minutes of Hearing and Summary of Evidence of February 5, 2026 trial at pp. 8-9.) The WCJ found this testimony credible and unrebutted. (Opinion on Decision at p. 5.) Labor Code section 5401(d) flatly states that, “Filing of the claim form with the employer shall toll, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 1994, the time limitations set forth in Sections 5405 and 5406 until the claim is denied by the employer or the injury becomes presumptively compensable pursuant to Section 5402.” Thus, applicant had one year from the earlier of receiving a denial or the expiration of the 90-day period to issue the denial to file an application for adjudication. The 90-day period expired in January 2016. The filing of the Application for Adjudication on March 16, 2016 was well within one year of that date.
Applicant's wife filed a claim form in October 2015, tolling the statute of limitations.
Official decision · page 3 → - ADJ number not stated · 2026-06-10 · Santa Ana District Office§ 5405
Determinative passage · p.2On December 15, 2025, the WCJ issued the F&O, determining in relevant part that applicant met his burden of establishing injury to the cervical spine, left knee, right thumb, right large toe, and internal system. The WCJ found that applicant's date of injury under section 5412 was "in 2004," that defendant was not estopped from asserting the running of the statute of limitations, and that compensation for applicant's claim was barred under section 5405. (Findings of Fact, Nos. 2-4.) The WCJ also determined that applicant's claim was barred by laches. (Finding
The WCAB determined that compensation was not barred because the date of injury was May 4, 2021, and the claim was filed within one year.
- ADJ22400130 · 2026-06-01 · Los Angeles District Office§ 5401
Determinative passage · p.6Notwithstanding the definition of "date of injury" contained in sections 3212.86, 3212.87, or 3212.88, COVID-19 is generally considered a specific injury. Defendant contends that applicant's claim is barred by the one year statute of limitations to apply for workers' compensation benefits pursuant to section 5405. With respect to whether applicant's claims are barred by the statute of limitations, the three points designated in section 5405 as the start of the one year statute of limitations period are: date of injury; the last payment of disability indemnity; and the last date on which medical treatment benefits were furnished.
The WCAB found the burden of proof for the statute of limitations rests with the defendant and that the applicant's knowledge of industrial causation was not established until the AME evaluation in 2024.
Official decision · page 6 → - ADJ13355568 · 2026-05-08 · Oakland District Office§ 5405
Determinative passage · p.5Finally, in De Lay v. CIGA (2019) 84 Cal.Comp.Cases 934, the Appeals Board rescinded the WCJ's decision that section 5405 barred CIGA's petition for reimbursement for a subsequent injury against a permissibly self-insured employer for benefits paid by CIGA up through the date of trial. The Appeals Board relied on the California Supreme Court case of Plotnick v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 1 Cal. 3d 622, 623-626 [35 Cal.Comp. Cases 13]), holding that medical treatment provided by an employer for an earlier injury that also overlaps with treatment for a subsequent injury may toll the statute of limitations for the subsequent injury under section 5405(c). In Plotnick, the injured worker sustained successive injuries to the same body part. (Id. at pp. 623-624.) The Supreme Court found that "[i]t follows inevitably" that any medical treatment received from the employer for a previous injury "must to some extent have been designed to relieve [the injured employee] from the effects" of the subsequent injury, even when the treatment "may also had as their purpose to relieve petitioner from the effects of the original injury." (Id. at pp. 625-626.) The Supreme Court therefore held that filing of the claim was timely within the one year of the provision of medical treatment pursuant to section 5405(c). (Id.)
The WCJ must determine when CIGA last paid benefits to apply section 5405(c) tolling.
Official decision · page 5 → - ADJ9400358 · 2026-03-23 · Van Nuys District Office§ 5405
Determinative passage · p.4Thus, an applicant must commence proceedings with the WCAB within one year of (1) the date of injury; or (2) the expiration of the period covered by the employer's last payment of disability indemnity; or (3) the date of the last furnishing by the employer of medical, surgical or hospital treatment. (J.T. Thorp v. Workers' Comp. Appeals. Bd. (1984) 153 Cal.App.3d 327, 333-334 [49 Cal.Comp.Cases 224].)
The WCJ applied this standard to determine timeliness of the claim.
Official decision · page 4 → - ADJ13858864 · 2026-03-23 · Santa Ana District Office§ 5405
Determinative passage · p.2We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Reconsideration and the contents of the Report. Based on our review of the record, and for the reasons discussed below, we will grant reconsideration and affirm the F&O, except that we will amend it to find that the section 5412 date of injury was May 4, 2021 (Finding of Fact No. 2); that compensation is not barred by section 5405 (Finding of Fact No. 3); and that applicant is not estopped from claiming injury under the equitable doctrine of laches (Finding of Fact No. 5).
The WCAB found the claim was filed within one year of the May 4, 2021 date of injury, so the statute did not bar the claim.
Official decision · page 2 → - ADJ17359397 · 2026-02-26 · Pomona District Office§ 5401
Determinative passage · p.8Pursuant to section 5401 and A.D. Rule 10138 et seq., within one working day from when an employer receives written notice or knowledge of an injury caused by employment or knowledge of an assertion of an injury claim resulting in lost time from work beyond the employee's shift or medical treatment beyond first aid, the employer is required to provide the employee personally, or by first class mail, the Claim Form and a Notice of Potential Eligibility for benefits. (Lab. Code, § 5401; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10138 et seq.; Wagner, supra, at p. 32.)
The employer's duty to provide the Claim Form tolls the statute of limitations until the claim is denied or presumed compensable.
Official decision · page 8 →
All 4 decisions on § 5400 →All 23 decisions on § 5401 →All 55 decisions on § 5405 →
Forms and where to file
Official forms reprinted from DWC, by number
Also on this
Questions about this deadline
How long do I have to report a work injury in California?
Labor Code § 5400 gives 30 days from the injury to serve written notice on the employer. Knowledge the employer already had counts as notice (§ 5402(a)), and late notice does not bar the claim unless the employer was misled or prejudiced by it (§ 5403).
Is the one-year limit counted from the date of injury?
From the latest of three dates: the injury, the end of the period covered by disability payments, or the last day medical treatment was furnished (§ 5405). A claim where benefits were paid usually has a later deadline than the injury date suggests.
Does filing the claim form stop the one-year clock?
For injuries on or after January 1, 1994, filing the claim form with the employer tolls the § 5405 limit until the claim is denied or the injury becomes presumptively compensable under § 5402 (§ 5401(c)). The calculator shows the year without that tolling.