"I was hurt in California but I don't live here" — and the reverse

The rule

Labor Code § 3600.5(a): an employee who is hired in California, or who is regularly working in California, is covered by California workers' compensation even when the injury occurs outside the state.

And § 5305 gives the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board jurisdiction over injuries outside California to employees whose contract of hire was made here.

The practical test is not one thing. It looks at where the hiring happened, where you regularly performed work, where the employer is based, and how substantial the California connection is.

Why you would want California

Because in a lot of comparisons, California is better:

Broad cumulative trauma coverage. Many states barely recognize repetitive-injury claims. California has a fully developed body of law for them. How cumulative trauma works.

Psychiatric injury as a compensable injury in its own right, under § 3208.3, with a defined standard. What that requires.

Lifetime medical care where it is not settled away.

A life pension at 70% and above that escalates annually. Most states have nothing comparable.

Presumptions for public safety workers that are among the strongest anywhere. What they cover.

The situations where this comes up

Truck drivers. Hired at a California terminal, injured in Nevada. California is very often available.

Traveling employees and field technicians sent out of state for a job.

Professional athletes. There is a specific and heavily litigated body of law here, and the rules were narrowed significantly by legislation — worth specific advice rather than a general answer.

Remote workers hired by a California employer. This is newer ground and it is being litigated now.

And the reverse: an out-of-state employer whose worker is temporarily in California may be exempt under § 3600.5(b) where that state has a reciprocity arrangement and covers the worker. That is a real defense and it depends on the specific state.

Two things to be careful about

Filing in two states. You generally cannot collect twice for the same injury; one state credits the other. But filing in the right state first matters, and where both are available the choice is strategic, not administrative.

Deadlines run independently. California's one-year statute under § 5405 does not pause because you were pursuing something elsewhere. Your deadlines.