Workers’ comp in Bakersfield.
Kern County work is hard on bodies: oilfield falls and crush injuries, heat illness in the fields, and cumulative trauma from years of agricultural and packing-house labor. Our Bakersfield office on California Avenue serves injured workers throughout the county, in English and Spanish, and appears before the Bakersfield board.
The work in and around Bakersfield centers on oil and gas fields and service companies, agriculture, packing, and food processing, trucking and distribution, construction, and hospitals and healthcare. The injuries follow the work: back, shoulder, and hand injuries from lifting and machinery; falls; vehicle and forklift collisions; heat illness outdoors; and cumulative trauma that builds over years and counts the same as a single-day injury.
What you’re owed.
- Medical care for the injury — no co-pay, no deductible, no lifetime cap
- Temporary disability at two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you recover
- Permanent disability for lasting impairment, rated under the AMA Guides
- A $6,000 retraining voucher if your employer can’t take you back within your restrictions
- Protection from retaliation for filing — a separate claim under Labor Code § 132a
- A civil case against anyone other than your employer who caused the injury — no cap, with pain and suffering
The deadlines that decide cases.
Almost nobody in Bakersfield finds out about these in time. Report in writing, keep copies, and call before either clock becomes the story. Our deadline calculator counts down from your date of injury.
The Bakersfield office.
Employees First Labor Law — Workers’ Compensation
4900 California Ave B-210
Bakersfield, CA 93309
310-853-3461
Serving injured workers in Bakersfield, Delano, Shafter, Wasco, Arvin, Lamont, Taft, Tehachapi, and Oildale. Cases are typically heard at the Bakersfield district office of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Evening and weekend consultations by appointment; phone and video consultations available.
Questions we hear first.
Where will my Bakersfield workers’ comp case be heard?
Cases from Bakersfield and surrounding communities are typically assigned to the Bakersfield district office of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, where hearings, mandatory settlement conferences, and trials take place. Venue is generally the county where you live or where the injury occurred.
Do I have to come into the office?
No. We meet clients at our Bakersfield office, by phone, or by video, and we handle the filings and appearances. Many clients never need to visit the office at all.
What does it cost?
Nothing up front. Attorney fees in California workers’ compensation are approved by the board and paid out of the recovery — typically 15 percent. There is no hourly bill and no retainer.
Do you handle cases in Spanish?
Yes. Every office has Spanish-speaking staff, and the firm’s Spanish-language site, Empleados Primero, covers the same ground as this one.
General information about California law, not legal advice about your case. Attorney advertising.