Revised Facts About Workers' Compensation New Hire Notice

The DWC has approved updates to CWCI’s “Facts About Workers’ Compensation” new hire notice, which employers and claims organizations use to meet the statutory requirements to provide new employees with basic information about workers’ compensation (LC §3551) either at the time of hire or by the end of the first pay period. 

The change was made after Gov. Newsom signed AB 1870 last year, amending LC §3550 to require the addition of information on an employee’s right to consult an attorney to the DWC 7 posting notice. This change to the posting notice triggered a change in the new hire notice as well because LC §3551 specifies that new employees must receive written notice of the information in LC §3550.  

LC §3550(f) and LC §3551(c) specify that insurers shall provide the posting notices and new hire notices to their policyholders with advice concerning the statutory notice requirements and the penalties for failure to provide the notices to all employees. These can include audit penalties, loss of employer medical control, thousands of dollars in civil penalties for each violation of the posting requirement, and the tolling of the statute of limitations for filing a claim.

Following enactment of AB 1870, the DWC revised the posting notice and posted a downloadable version online click here. CCR 9883(a) allows private enterprises to prepare and publish their own version of the Written Notice to New Employees if it is approved by the DWC, so CWCI revised and submitted an updated copy of the Facts About Workers’ Compensation for review and approval. The state approved the revised version last month, after which the Institute copyrighted its notice, translated it into Spanish, typeset the revised versions, and sent them to the printer.

The updated Notices to New Employees in English and Spanish are now in stock and available to our members and customers along with the 5-part DWC-1 Claim Form and NOPE, which already contains information on an employee’s right to consult an attorney, and CWCI’s Facts For Injured Workers pamphlet, which is not mandatory, but is often used early in the life of a claim to remind injured workers of their rights and obligations. All of these publications are available in sets of 100 through the Institute’s online store www.cwci.org/store.html. CWCI members are eligible for a 15 percent discount on these products if the subtotal on their order is $1,000 or more. For questions about ordering, call CWCI at (510) 251-9470.