A petition for reconsideration gives the Appeals Board 60 days to act. In Mayor v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (S287261), decided August 24, 2026, the California Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal “that the deadline in former section 5909 is mandatory and that the Appeals Board may not equitably toll its own deadline to act.” Justice Evans wrote for a unanimous court.
The Board’s grant-for-study order, issued after the 60-day period, “was in excess of its jurisdiction, but the Appeals Board did not lack fundamental jurisdiction to issue the order after the period ended.” The Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s judgment granting the injured worker’s petition for writ of mandate. It also disapproved Shipley v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1104 “to the extent it suggests that all parties necessarily have a due process right to Board review of a petition for reconsideration after the 60-day deadline”.
Finality. Once the 60 days run, a grant of reconsideration exceeds the Board’s jurisdiction — though, because the Board doesn’t lack fundamental jurisdiction, a late order isn’t simply void; the remedy the Court affirmed was a petition for writ of mandate. That timing governs when an award after trial, or an approved C&R or stipulated award, is final. The opinion construes former §5909; SB 171 (Stats. 2026, ch. 83) has since rewritten the section, keeping the 60-day clock running from the date the trial judge transmits the case to the Appeals Board (current text linked below). For the hearing process that produces these decisions, see how WCAB hearings work. Descriptive summary of a public decision; not legal advice.
Plain-language summary for informational use; not legal advice. Figures are quoted from the cited sources.