California Department of Industrial Relations

The Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) are the descendants of the adjudication functions of the old Industrial Accident Commission (IAC). DWC operates 24 district offices throughout the state at which workers' compensation judges (administrative law judges specializing in the adjudication of workers' compensation claims) hear evidence and decide the amount of compensation to which injured employees are entitled. DWC has over 150 judges, who adjudicate over 150,000 claims each year.

DWC judges are subordinate to the seven-member WCAB, to which their decisions may be appealed by way of a petition for reconsideration.[3]

The unusual terminology originates from the fact that the IAC at its creation in 1911 technically had original jurisdiction over all workers' compensation claims. In other words, California's earliest workers' compensation laws were written as if the IAC members themselves sitting collectively as a panel were supposed to hear the evidence and rule upon each individual claim. This made no sense for a government agency whose purpose was to divert adjudication of compensation for virtually all work-related injuries from the state judiciary and do it faster and with less formalities than the courts. (This was a common error in early American workers' compensation legislation and was not unique to California.) The IAC originally convened in two three-member panels which sat, respectively, in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The IAC was soon overwhelmed by the number of claims relative to its small size. The IAC began to appoint referees and delegated to them the tasks of hearing evidence on claims (that is, sitting individually and not in panels) and preparing unsigned written recommendations, which were then adopted by the IAC panels as if each panel had heard the evidence itself. In 1945, the referees were allowed to sign their recommendations and the recommendations were circulated to the parties in advance of adoption, but were still nonbinding unless and until they were actually adopted by an IAC panel. In 1951, the state legislature fundamentally changed the relationship between the referees and the IAC by enacting a law which provided that the referees' findings, orders, decisions and awards would automatically have the force of law as if made by the IAC itself, unless the IAC granted a petition for reconsideration of a referee's decision made in its name.[4]

After 1951, it became clear that the referees were holding bench trials and the IAC panels were not actually exercising original jurisdiction, but were performing appellate review. In 1966, the state legislature recognized this reality by enacting a law which divided the IAC into the WCAB and the Division of Industrial Accidents, which later evolved into DWC.[4] In 1975, DIR began to informally refer to the referees as judges, and the state legislature made that official by enacting appropriate legislation in 1985 which became effective on January 1, 1986.[5] In 1987, DWC judges were authorized by the state legislature to wear judicial robes.[5]

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as DOSH or Cal/OSHA, supervises occupational safety and health at workplaces throughout the state of California and issues citations to employers found to be in noncompliance.

DOSH's Elevator Unit is responsible for inspecting nearly all elevators in California, with the notable exception of those in Los Angeles.[6] Furthermore, California is one of the few U.S. states that requires the most recent inspection certificate for an elevator to be prominently posted in the elevator car.[7] Thus, by their nature, DOSH's elevator certificates are among the most commonly viewed documents produced by the California state government.