If one of your employees is hurt in a car crash while working, you have one working day to hand them a workers’ compensation claim form once you know about an injury that needs more than first aid or keeps them out past their shift. That clock comes from California Labor Code section 5401, and it starts whether the crash happened in a company van or the employee’s own car.
Who pays when an employee is hurt driving for work?
Workers’ comp is often not the whole story after a crash. Labor Code section 3852 says an employee’s comp claim does not affect their right to seek damages from anyone other than the employer, such as the driver who caused the wreck. Moe Abdallah Law, a downtown Los Angeles firm, explains how claims against the at-fault driver in Los Angeles work, from dealing with that driver’s insurer to the deadlines and the losses such a claim can cover. The same section lets an employer who pays comp benefits bring its own claim against that third person, too.
So two tracks can run at once: your comp carrier covers the work injury, and the employee may pursue the other driver separately. Every situation is different, and your employee should talk to a lawyer about their own case.
What has to happen in the first days?
Here’s the sequence California law sets out:
1. Your employee gives notice. Labor Code section 5400 generally requires written notice to the employer within 30 days of the injury, with some exceptions in sections 5402 and 5403. Don’t wait for the paperwork; if you know about the injury, the next step is on you.
2. You hand over the claim form. Section 5401 gives you one working day after you learn of the injury to give the employee a claim form and a notice of potential eligibility for benefits, in person or by first-class mail. This applies when the injury causes lost time beyond the shift or needs treatment beyond first aid.
3. You pass the form along. Once the employee files the completed form with you, section 5401 says you must give a dated copy to your insurer and to the employee.
4. The driver reports the crash to the DMV. California Vehicle Code section 16000 requires the driver in a crash on a street or highway to report it to the DMV within 10 days if anyone was hurt or killed, or if property damage to any one person tops $1,000. An insurance agent, broker or legal representative can file it for them.
Write these steps into your handbook and make sure the managers who take the first call know them.
How do the 2025 insurance minimums affect business drivers?
California raised its minimum auto liability limits in 2025. Under Vehicle Code section 16056, a policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, must carry at least:
$30,000 for injury or death to one person
$60,000 for injury or death to two or more people
$15,000 for damage to property
The old floor was $15,000, $30,000 and $5,000. The same section raises the limits again for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2035, by $20,000, $40,000 and $10,000. The California DMV’s insurance requirements page lists the current $30,000, $60,000 and $15,000 minimums for private passenger, commercial and fleet vehicles.
This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Talk to your insurance broker and a licensed California attorney about your own business.
Priya Nair writes about small business and money for Local Press Desk, a PR agency that works with Moe Abdallah Law.
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