Can independent contractors get workers' comp in California?

Genuine independent contractors are outside the system, but California presumes a worker is an employee and puts the burden on the hiring business to prove otherwise. Labor Code section 3357 supplies the presumption, and the ABC test codified at Labor Code section 2775 governs most classification disputes; misclassified workers can pursue full benefits.

The label on a contract or a 1099 does not decide the question. Labor Code section 3357 presumes that a person rendering service for another is an employee, and under the ABC test codified at Labor Code section 2775, a worker is an employee unless the hiring entity proves freedom from its control, work outside its usual course of business, and an independently established trade — a test many arrangements fail. A worker found to be misclassified is entitled to the full benefit package: medical treatment, temporary and permanent disability, and job displacement benefits, with disputes resolved at the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. If the employer carried no workers' compensation insurance, the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund can pay the award (Labor Code section 3716), and the worker also gains the rare right to sue the illegally uninsured employer in civil court under Labor Code section 3706, with negligence presumed. Classification is decided claim by claim; filing, not assuming, is how the question gets answered.

Authority: Cal. Lab. Code § 2775