Paper filed with a WCAB district office goes into EAMS, the state’s electronic case system, by scanning — and two forms tell the scanner what it is looking at. The Document Cover Sheet (DWC-CA form 10232.1) identifies the case; the Document Separator Sheet (DWC-CA form 10232.2) names each document inside the filing. The rules for both are one regulation: Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, §10205.12.
The cover sheet goes first
Under §10205.12(b)(1), a completed document cover sheet “shall be the first page of each individual document or set of documents filed at one time in the same case.” One cover sheet covers the whole set. The form has room for companion cases — the regulation says 15 — and “only the pages filled out need to be filed.”
What the current cover sheet (Rev. 10/2024) asks for: whether this is a new case, whether it is a walkthrough, whether companion cases exist, and for each case the ADJ case number, specific or cumulative injury with its dates (for a specific injury, the start date is the date of injury), and up to four body parts plus “other.” Body parts go in as the DWC’s numeric codes — §10205.12(a)(8) requires them on OCR forms; they are all on our EAMS body-part codes page. Then check one unit to file with: ADJ, DEU, SIF, UEF, SAU, INT, or RSU.
A separator sheet before every document
Inside the set, “a document separator sheet shall precede each document” (§10205.12(b)(1)). Attachments get their own: a separator precedes an attachment, and one precedes each attachment when there are several (§10205.12(b)(2)).
The one place a separator does not go: between a document and its own proof of service. But where a single proof of service covers several documents, a separator precedes the proof of service (§10205.12(b)(2)).
The separator sheet asks for the product delivery unit, the document type, the document title, the document’s date, and its author (§10205.12(b)(4)). The title is not free text — it must come from the DWC’s published list of document titles, which ships with the separator sheet form (§10205.12(b)(3)).
Format rules for everything in the filing
Section 10205.12(a) sets the standards for filed documents (treating and secondary physicians’, QME and AME reports and proposed exhibits are carved out of these format standards): one side of the paper only; black ink on white 8½ × 11 paper; margins of at least 1 inch with nothing written in them; a first-page caption naming the injured worker, the employer, and the insurer (or self-insured status), with the case number preceded by “ADJ”; and, on non-form pleadings, a heading with the filing attorney’s name, State Bar number, firm name, and address.
OCR forms and documents use a serif font — Times New Roman, Times, Courier, Palatino, Century Schoolbook or similar — of at least 12 points, and text added to OCR forms is in capital letters. The Social Security number on an OCR form is optional. Text is double or one-and-a-half spaced (captions, headings, footnotes, and block quotes single). Documents are flat — no folds, no staples. No single document may exceed 25 pages without permission from the Appeals Board or the presiding judge of the venue office. Only OCR forms carry bar codes at the top; nothing else may. Oversized documents are filed only at trial (§10205.12(c), §10603).
Who is exempt
The cover-and-separator requirement does not apply to unrepresented employees, unrepresented dependents, or unrepresented uninsured employers who don’t have ready access to the forms (§10205.12(b)(5)). And where an unrepresented party can’t reasonably type, a legible hand-printed document is accepted if it otherwise meets the format rules, margins included (§10205.12(d)).
Before you file
Cover sheet on top, one unit checked, body parts as codes. A separator in front of every document and every attachment, titled from the DWC list — but none between a document and its own proof of service. One side, unstapled, 12-point serif, caps on the forms, 25 pages per document. The rest of the case’s paperwork — DWC-1, Application, DOR, PTCS, C&R and Stips — is laid out in order on our forms page, and the office a case is venued in comes from the WCAB office finder. Descriptive summary of a public regulation; check the current forms on the DWC site before filing; not legal advice.