The DWC-5020: A Sixty-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling

A DWC Form 5020 is often the first document by which an employer learns about workers’ compensation claim procedures. Created by the state of California, it is also known as the “Employer’s Report of Occupational Injury or Illness,” and is informally known as the “Employer’s First Report” or the “5020.”

The DWC-5020 sets forth 39 questions about the underlying incident and injuries allegedly suffered by a worker. The report must be filed within 5 days of the employer’s date of knowledge of an industrial injury. Should the injury later result in death, an amended report must be filed within 5 days of the employer’s knowledge of the worker’s demise.

Some employers fill out the 5020 in great detail, especially when dealing with a serious or questionable injury. Others fill out the form providing the bare minimum of information, fearing the report may somehow end up in the hands of an applicant’s attorney and subsequently used against them in applicant’s claim for basic benefits, or perhaps in support of a claim that the employer engaged in Serious & Willful Misconduct which caused the injury, or a claim under Labor Code 132a that the employer discriminated against the worker.

With that said, we can understand why an employer may be reluctant to provide full details when filling out the DWC-5020, even though failure to disclose information may severely compromise the initial claims investigation. After all, as the DWC-5020 is the foundation of all compensability investigations, an incomplete report can lead to an inaccurate and counterproductive conclusion.

The purpose of today’s blog is to provide assurance to employers that they have little to fear by thoroughly completing a DWC-5020 form. We believe that many employers and claims professionals are unaware of the safeguards provided under Labor Code 6412, which states:

“No report of injury or illness required by subdivision (a) of Section 6409 (DWC Form 5020) shall be open to public inspection or made public, nor shall those reports be admissible as evidence in any adversary proceeding before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.”

Labor Code 6412 has been interpreted to mean that applicant attorneys are not entitled to a copy of the 5020, even by subpoena. It is a privileged document and may be omitted when complying with a subpoena duces tecum for employment or claim file records. Also, in the event applicant’s counsel should somehow obtain a copy of the report, the law forbids it from being used as evidence in litigation. This prohibition makes absolute sense as it encourages the forthright and thorough reporting of industrial injuries.