Workers' Compensation Appeals Board Clarifies Jurisdiction Over Remote Workers Injured Outside California
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The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) is a creature of statute, and its subject matter jurisdiction is limited to the grants of authority conferred by the Legislature. Although it generally has jurisdiction over all injuries occurring within California, it has limited jurisdiction for injuries occurring outside of the state. Subject matter jurisdiction over injuries occurring outside California is governed primarily by two statutes. Labor Code § 3600.5(a) extends jurisdiction to out-of-state injuries when the employee was hired or is regularly working in California. LC 5305 separately confers jurisdiction when the employee is a California resident at the time of injury and the contract of hire was made in California. The residency requirement of LC 5305 has long been recognized as unconstitutional, leaving the contract of hire as its operative element in practice. So, the Labor Code gives the appeals board jurisdiction over claims for out-of-state injuries when either (1) the...