An employee just handed you a claim form — or told you they got hurt. What you do in the next one working day is scripted by statute, and what the claim ultimately costs is arithmetic you can check yourself. This is the employer’s side of the system, written plainly.
The first 24 hours
On notice of injury you must provide the DWC-1 claim form within one working day (§5401), get the worker medical care, and report to your carrier. Prompt paper protects you: the claim’s timeline, the treatment path, and the eventual rating all run cleaner when the first day is done right. Change nothing about the worker’s job status because they filed — §132a makes retaliation a separate, uninsurable liability.
The 90-day window
Your claims administrator has 90 days to accept or deny, or the claim is presumed compensable (§5402) — and up to $10,000 of treatment must be authorized while the decision is pending. Denial is a real option for a real dispute; a reflexive denial of a legitimate claim just adds penalty exposure and attorney involvement to everything that follows.
What the claim actually costs
Three streams, all computable. Temporary disability: two-thirds of wages, tax-free, capped at $1,764.11/week for 2026 injuries (a $1,200/week employee draws $800), generally limited to 104 weeks (§4656). Medical: the treatment itself plus any future-medical award. Permanent disability, priced by the schedule at the 2026 maximum:
The quieter cost is your experience modification: claim dollars feed your X-Mod and raise premium for the three policy years that follow — which is why a percentage point of PD that was never checked costs more than the check itself.
Your levers
You control more than most employers use. A medical provider network keeps treatment with doctors who know occupational medicine. A written return-to-work offer within 60 days of P&S heads off the §4658.7 job-displacement voucher and shortens the wage-loss tail. And when the rating lands, verify it: a QME’s WPI runs through the 2005 PDRS pipeline — occupation, age, the ×1.4 — and the calculator prices the string in seconds, the same math both sides’ attorneys run. Reserve-setting from day one is its own discipline: how to set PD reserves.
The mistakes that multiply
Skipping insurance is a crime (§3700.5) with stop-work orders and personal exposure — the UEBTF pays the worker and then pursues you. Paying an injury “off the books” to protect the X-Mod backfires the moment care gets expensive. Firing the claimant creates a §132a claim your carrier does not cover — the worker-side view shows exactly how that plays. Late TD checks add automatic 10% penalties on the §4650 clock. Timelines for the whole arc: how long cases take.
Estimates for informational use; not legal advice — coverage and defense questions belong with your carrier and counsel.
Rate your spine right here
Same engine as the tables above — pick your occupation and age, slide the WPI from the report, and carry it into the full calculator when you’re ready.