California Time of Hire Pamphlet: Contents, Delivery, and Penalties

The California time of hire pamphlet is the written workers’ compensation notice every California employer must hand to each new employee either at hiring or by the end of the first pay period. Labor Code Section 3551 requires it, and the pamphlet must be available in English and Spanish.¹ It explains what to do after a job injury, what benefits are available, and how an employee can choose their own doctor. Employers who skip it lose the right to direct medical treatment and face civil penalties that currently exceed $12,000 per violation.

What the Pamphlet Must Contain

The content comes from two statutes working together: Section 3550 sets the baseline workers’ compensation information every employer must communicate, and Section 3551 adds items specific to the new-hire pamphlet.² The pamphlet has to cover:

How to get emergency medical care after a workplace injury.
The kinds of injuries, illnesses, and events that qualify for workers’ compensation.
The employee’s right to receive medical treatment.
The right to consult a licensed attorney about workers’ compensation rights, with a note that attorney’s fees are typically paid from the recovery. This piece was added by Assembly Bill 1870, effective in 2024.³
The right to choose and change a treating physician under Labor Code Section 4600.
The benefits available: temporary disability payments, permanent disability benefits, supplemental job displacement vouchers for retraining, and death benefits for dependents.
Who to report injuries to and the time limits for notice.
Protection against retaliation for filing a claim under Labor Code Section 132a.
Where to get help, including the DWC website and the nearest information and assistance officer.

Section 3551 adds three items that go beyond what the workplace poster covers: how to obtain medical care for a work injury, what the primary treating physician does, and a predesignation form that lets the employee name their own doctor in advance.¹

The Predesignation Form Inside the Pamphlet

The predesignation form is the most useful piece of the packet for most employees. Normally the employer’s Medical Provider Network controls which doctors treat a work injury. Predesignation lets an employee bypass that network and see their own physician, but only if the paperwork is done before an injury happens.

Three conditions have to be met. The employee must have existing health coverage for non-work injuries or illnesses. They must give the employer written notice naming the physician, with the doctor’s name and business address. And the physician must agree to be predesignated before any injury occurs.⁴ The optional DWC Form 9783 is built for this, though other written documentation of the doctor’s agreement works too.

Every employer has to advise employees in writing of this right under Labor Code Section 4600(d).⁵ Including the predesignation form in the time of hire pamphlet satisfies that requirement in one step.

Where to Get the Official Pamphlet

The Division of Workers’ Compensation publishes the official Time of Hire Notice, and it is free to download from the DWC website.⁶ The template meets the requirements of Sections 3551 and 3553 and the regulations at 8 CCR Sections 9880 and 9883. Employers and claims administrators can add their own logos and company-specific information so long as the required text stays intact.⁷

Certain fields need the employer’s own information: the employer’s name, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier, and the claims administrator’s address and phone number. Many carriers supply pre-filled versions. Whoever prepares the document, verify the carrier name, policy information, and claims contact are current before distribution. Outdated details create confusion when an injured worker actually needs to file.

The pamphlet was last revised on February 1, 2024.⁶ Check the DWC site periodically for updates, especially after legislative changes like AB 1870.

When and How to Deliver It

Delivery has to happen at the time of hire or by the end of the first pay period.¹ The regulation at 8 CCR Section 15596 allows notification orally or in writing, but Section 3551 itself requires written notice and includes the predesignation form the employee may want to complete.⁸ Always give the written pamphlet.

Handing it out during orientation is the simplest route and makes it easy to confirm receipt. For employees who start remotely or at scattered locations, mailing it to the home address is common. Whatever method you use, document it. A signed acknowledgment, a delivery receipt, or a dated distribution log all work as evidence of compliance.

Remote and Distributed Workers

Electronic delivery is an option for fully remote teams, with conditions. Federal guidance on electronic distribution of mandatory employment notices generally requires that all employees customarily receive information electronically and have ready access to the posting at all times. Emailing a PDF once is not enough on its own; the pamphlet must be accessible on a system the employee can reach at any time without special access.

Employers with a mix of on-site and remote staff carry the strictest burden: hard-copy distribution for in-office workers, equivalent notice for the remote ones. When in doubt, send a physical copy along with the electronic version.

The Pamphlet Is Not the Same as the Workplace Poster

California requires two separate workers’ compensation notices, and they do different jobs.

DWC Form 7, “Notice to Employees—Injuries Caused By Work,” is the workplace poster displayed at every job site in a location employees can read during work hours. It satisfies Section 3550’s posting requirement.³
The Time of Hire Notice is the pamphlet given individually to each new employee. It satisfies Section 3551 and contains everything on the poster plus the material on obtaining medical care, the primary treating physician’s role, and the predesignation form.⁶

You need both. Posting the poster does not excuse handing out the pamphlet, and distributing the pamphlet does not replace the poster. Each has its own penalty exposure.

What Happens If the Employer Doesn’t Provide It

Loss of Control Over Medical Treatment

Labor Code Section 3550(e) says that if the employer fails to provide the required notice, the employee is automatically allowed to be treated by their own personal physician for any injury that happens during the period of noncompliance.² That overrides the employer’s normal right to direct care through a Medical Provider Network. Treatment costs become less predictable and harder to manage.

Civil Penalties and a Misdemeanor

Failing to post the required Section 3550 notice triggers civil penalties under Labor Code Section 6431. The current statutory maximum is $12,471 per violation, and the figure adjusts each January 1 for the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.⁹ Penalties are assessed per employee who did not receive the required documents, so a whole hiring class without the pamphlet compounds fast.

Beyond the money, failing to post the Section 3550 notice is a misdemeanor and serves as prima facie evidence that the employer carries no workers’ compensation insurance at all.² That presumption shifts a significant burden onto the employer in any enforcement action or claim dispute.

Keep a Distribution Log

The simplest defense is a distribution log. Record each employee’s name, the date the pamphlet was provided, and the delivery method. Get a signed acknowledgment when you can. These records cost nothing and are the first thing an auditor or attorney will ask for.

What Employees Should Do With It

Keep the pamphlet somewhere accessible. It has the phone number and address you will need if you get hurt on the job. More importantly, it contains the predesignation form. If you have a personal doctor you trust and you carry health insurance for non-work injuries, filling that form out now means you can see your own doctor after a workplace injury instead of being limited to the employer’s provider network. Once you are already hurt, it is too late to predesignate.

If your employer never gave you the pamphlet, you have the right to see your own doctor for any workplace injury that occurs during the period of noncompliance.² You are also protected from retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim, whether or not you ever received the pamphlet.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code LAB 3551
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 3550
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. Division of Workers’ Compensation Posts Updated DWC Form 7
4
Department of Industrial Relations. California Code of Regulations Title 8 9780.1 – Employee’s Predesignation of Personal Physician
5
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 8 9782 – Notice to Employee of Right to Choose Physician
6
California Department of Industrial Relations. Time of Hire Notice
7
California Department of Industrial Relations. Division of Workers’ Compensation Posts Updated Time of Hire Notice
8
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 8 15596 – Notice of Employee’s Right to Workers’ Compensation Benefits
9
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 6431