"I'm undocumented."

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Short answer: yes, you can file. California workers' compensation covers all workers regardless of immigration status.

You are entitled to medical treatment, to temporary disability payments, to a permanent disability award, and to death benefits for your family.

What the law provides

Labor Code § 3351 defines "employee" without reference to immigration status, and California has consistently applied the system to all workers. Labor Code § 3357 presumes that any person rendering service for another is an employee.

Being paid in cash does not remove you from the system. It changes how the employment relationship is proved — with texts, schedules, photographs, coworkers, uniforms, and deposit records instead of a W-2 — and it gets proved regularly.

Being called an independent contractor does not remove you either. That is a factual question about control, and the burden is on the business.

Threatening you over it is unlawful

Labor Code § 132a makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, or discriminate against an employee because they filed or intend to file a claim.

An immigration threat made in connection with a workers' compensation claim is retaliation. It is also, frequently, a violation of other California laws that carry their own remedies. Document it — the date, the words, and who said them. How retaliation claims work.

What we are asked most

"Will the claim report me to immigration?" A workers' compensation claim is a claim for benefits under the Labor Code. It is not an immigration proceeding.

"Do I need a Social Security number?" A claim can be filed and processed for a worker without one. Do not use someone else's number, and do not invent one — that creates a real problem in a case that otherwise has none.

"What if my employer has no insurance?" You still have a claim. The Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund pays benefits, and § 3706 permits a civil action against the employer where § 3708 presumes negligence. How.

"Can I get the job displacement voucher?" The Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit is a voucher for retraining and education, generally owed where the employer does not offer regular, modified, or alternative work. How it works.

"What about my family if I die?" Death benefits are payable to dependents, including dependents living outside the United States. Remittance and wire transfer records are the evidence, and they should be gathered early. Death benefits.

And you have a right to an interpreter

At medical treatment appointments, at medical-legal examinations, at depositions, and at hearings — at no cost to you. The authority differs by setting, and so does the standard: a qualified interpreter at medical treatment appointments under § 4600(g), a certified interpreter at a medical examination requested by the employer or the Board under § 4600(f), one at your deposition under § 5710(b)(5), and one at hearings under § 5811(b)(2) and 8 CCR §§ 9795.1.5 / 9795.3.

The interpreter must be certified. Do not accept a family member, a coworker, or an office staff member at a medical-legal examination — an inaccurate history in that report follows you through the entire case. Your interpreter rights.

The industries where this comes up most