On this page
The short answer
Check before you conclude that.
More valid California workers' compensation claims die from a worker deciding on their own that they missed a deadline than from anyone actually missing one.
The deadline that is almost never what people think
In a cumulative trauma or occupational disease claim, the "date of injury" is not when the wear started.
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 elements are required. Exposure alone is not a date of injury. A diagnosis alone is not a date of injury.
A worker whose back wore out over fifteen years and who was first taken off work last month may have a date of injury of last month.
The 30-day notice rule has a broad exception
§ 5400 requires notice within 30 days. § 5402(a) then provides that knowledge "obtained from any source, on the part of an employer, the employer's managing agent, superintendent, foreman, or other person in authority" is equivalent to formal notice.
A supervisor who saw it. A foreman you told. A first-aid log. A text to a manager. All notice.
And § 5403 provides that late notice does not bar the claim unless the employer was actually prejudiced by it — a real burden on the employer. More.
The deadlines that are real
| Deadline | What it governs |
|---|---|
| 1 year | File the Application for Adjudication (§ 5405) |
| 10 calendar days | Object to a Declaration of Readiness (8 CCR § 10744) — and the waiver is broad |
| At the MSC | Discovery closes (§ 5502(d)(3)) — undisclosed evidence is inadmissible |
| 30 days | Request IMR after a UR denial — including a modification |
| 20 days | Petition for Reconsideration after a final decision (§ 5903) |
| 12 months | § 4553 serious and willful misconduct petition (§ 5407) |
| 1 year | § 132a discrimination petition |
| 2 years | § 5814 penalty, from when payment was due |
| 5 years from DATE OF INJURY | Reopen for new and further disability (§ 5410) |
| 240 weeks from DATE OF INJURY | Outer limit on a death claim (§ 5406(b)) — not absolute: §§ 5406.5, 5406.6 and 5406.7 are named exceptions, and § 5406.7 reaches 420 weeks |
The two most commonly miscounted: § 5410 runs five years from the date of injury — not from the settlement or the award. And § 5406(b)'s 240 weeks is four years and seven months from the date of injury, which in an occupational disease death can expire before the death. Death benefits.
Even 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. This is 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 — generally two years for personal injury, and six months to present a claim against a government entity.
And a § 132a or FEHA claim arising from a termination has its own deadlines. Both routes.
What to do
Do not decide on your own. The analysis turns on § 5412, on § 5402(a), on which deadline actually applies, and on whether anything else is still live.
It costs nothing to have someone run it, and it takes one conversation.
Related:
Talk to a lawyer
Free consultation. No fee unless we recover. You are not responsible for costs we advance if there is no recovery.
Sources
Labor Code § 2750.5 · § 2810.3 · § 3357 · § 3600 (subd. (a)) · § 3208.3(d) · § 3706 · § 3708 · § 3715 · § 4453 · § 4551 · § 4553 · § 4616.3 · § 4616.4 · § 4650 · § 4660.1(c) · § 4663 · § 4664(b) · § 4903 · § 5400 · § 5402 · § 5403 · § 5405 · § 5406 · § 5407 · § 5410 · § 5412 · § 5502 · § 5814 · § 5814.5 · § 5903 · Insurance Code § 11661 · Education Code §§ 44984, 45192
City of Petaluma v. WCAB (Lindh) (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 1175 · Escobedo v. Marshalls (WCAB en banc) · SB 171 (SIBTF, operative July 2026)
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/answers/i-think-i-missed-a-deadline/ · Last reviewed 2026-08-23