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Glossary

Workers' comp

Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB)

California's workers' comp court: a seven-member appeals board plus workers' compensation judges at district offices who hear and decide disputed claims.

What the WCAB is

The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board exercises the judicial powers of California's workers' comp system. The Board itself has seven members (Labor Code section 111) and reviews decisions on reconsideration. Day-to-day cases are heard by workers' compensation judges at district offices around the state, where conferences, trials and settlement approvals take place. The Division of Workers' Compensation runs the administration and the EAMS case files.

How cases move through it

A case gets to a hearing when a party files a declaration of readiness to proceed (8 CCR 10742). A mandatory settlement conference is held 10 to 30 days after the DOR, and if the dispute is not resolved, trial follows within 75 days of the DOR. Expedited hearings, for issues such as entitlement to treatment or to temporary disability, must be held and decided within 30 days of the DOR (Labor Code section 5502). Every settlement, C&R or stipulated award, needs a judge's approval.

Why it matters to an applicant firm

Most of an applicant firm's deadlines lead back to the WCAB: objections to a DOR, discovery closing at the MSC, petitions for penalties, and the 20-day window to seek reconsideration. Every filing carries the case's ADJ number. The workers' comp case management guide covers how firms track this volume.

Sources

  1. Cal. Labor Code § 111
  2. Cal. Labor Code § 5502
  3. Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10742 (Declaration of Readiness to Proceed)

General information about California and federal rules, not legal advice. Rules change and every case turns on its facts: check the statute and your own analysis before relying on a date or a figure.

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