“The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced today that as of January 12, 2022, all hearings will be heard virtually. Until further notice, DWC will telephonically hear all trials, lien trials, expedited hearings, and special adjudication unit (SAU) trials. In addition, mandatory settlement conferences, priority conferences, status conferences, SAU conferences, and lien conferences will continue to be held on the individually assigned judges’ conference lines as announced in Newslines issued on April 3, April 28, May 28, August 12, September 9, 2020, and Sept. 1, 2021.
The division acknowledges that due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, a pause of in-person hearings is necessary at this time. The pause will continue through the end of the month and will be reevaluated at that time. DWC hearing notices will not change but parties should be aware that as of January 12, 2022, if a trial, expedited hearing, lien trial or SAU trial is set at a district office, all parties should call the judges’ assigned conference line and not appear in person. The judges’ assigned conference lines may be found on the DWC webpage. All division offices will remain open during this time.
If a party to a DWC hearing has a question on a specific case, they may contact the DWC call center at (909) 383-4522.”
Source: State of California Department of Industrial Relations, January 11, 2022: www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2022/2022-05.html
