3715
. (a) Any employee, except an employee as defined in
subdivision (d) of Section 3351, whose employer has failed to secure
the payment of compensation as required by this division, or his or
her dependents in case death has ensued, may, in addition to
proceeding against his or her employer by civil action in the courts
as provided in Section 3706, file his or her application with the
appeals board for compensation and the appeals board shall hear and
determine the application for compensation in like manner as in other
claims and shall make the award to the claimant as he or she would
be entitled to receive if the employer had secured the payment of
compensation as required, and the employer shall pay the award in the
manner and amount fixed thereby or shall furnish to the appeals
board a bond, in any amount and with any sureties as the appeals
board requires, to pay the employee the award in the manner and
amount fixed thereby.
(b) Notwithstanding this section or any other provision of this
chapter except Section 3708, any person described in subdivision (d)
of Section 3351 who is (1) engaged in household domestic service who
is employed by one employer for over 52 hours per week, (2) engaged
as a part-time gardener in connection with a private dwelling, if the
number of hours devoted to the gardening work for any individual
regularly exceeds 44 hours per month, or (3) engaged in casual
employment where the work contemplated is to be completed in not less
than 10 working days, without regard to the number of persons
employed, and where the total labor cost of the work is not less than
one hundred dollars ($100) (which amount shall not include charges
other than for personal services), shall be entitled, in addition to
proceeding against his or her employer by civil action in the courts
as provided in Section 3706, to file his or her application with the
appeals board for compensation. The appeals board shall hear and
determine the application for compensation in like manner as in other
claims, and shall make the award to the claimant as he or she would
be entitled to receive if the person's employer had secured the
payment of compensation as required, and the employer shall pay the
award in the manner and amount fixed thereby, or shall furnish to the
appeals board a bond, in any amount and with any sureties as the
appeals board requires, to pay the employee the award in the manner
and amount fixed thereby.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the amendments to this
section by Chapter 17 of the Statutes of 1977, make no change in the
law as it applied to those types of employees covered by this
subdivision prior to the effective date of Chapter 1263 of the 1975
Regular Session.
(c) In any claim in which it is alleged that the employer has
failed to secure the payment of compensation, the director, only for
purposes of this section and Section 3720, shall determine, on the
basis of the evidence available to him or her, whether the employer
was prima facie illegally uninsured. A finding that the employer was
prima facie illegally uninsured shall be made when the director
determines that there is sufficient evidence to constitute a prima
facie case that the employer employed an employee on the date of the
alleged injury and had failed to secure the payment of compensation,
and that the employee was injured arising out of, and occurring in
the course of, the employment.
Failure of the employer to furnish within 10 days the written
statement in response to a written demand for a written statement
prescribed in Section 3711, addressed to the employer at its address
as shown on the official address record of the appeals board, shall
constitute in itself sufficient evidence for a prima facie case that
the employer failed to secure the payment of compensation.
A written denial by the insurer named in the statement furnished
by the employer as prescribed in Section 3711, that the employer was
so insured as claimed, or the nonexistence of a valid certificate of
consent to self-insure for the time of the claimed injury, if the
statement furnished by the employer claims the employer was
self-insured, shall constitute in itself sufficient evidence for a
prima facie case that the employer had failed to secure the payment
of compensation.
The nonexistence of a record of the employer's insurance with the
Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau shall constitute in
itself sufficient evidence for a prima facie case that the employer
failed to secure the payment of compensation.
The unrebutted written declaration under penalty of perjury by the
injured employee, or applicant other than the employee, that the
employee was employed by the employer at the time of the injury, and
that he or she was injured in the course of his or her employment,
shall constitute, in itself, sufficient evidence for a prima facie
case that the employer employed the employee at the time of the
injury, and that the employee was injured arising out of, and
occurring in the course of, the employment.
(d) When the director determines that an employer was prima facie
illegally uninsured, the director shall mail a written notice of the
determination to the employer at his or her address as shown on the
official address record of the appeals board, and to any other more
recent address the director may possess. The notice shall advise the
employer of its right to appeal the finding, and that a lien may be
placed against the employer's and any parent corporation's property,
or the property of substantial shareholders of a corporate employer
as defined by Section 3717.
Any employer aggrieved by a finding of the director that it was
prima facie illegally uninsured may appeal the finding by filing a
petition before the appeals board. The petition shall be filed within
20 days after the finding is issued. The appeals board shall hold a
hearing on the petition within 20 days after the petition is filed
with the appeals board. The appeals board shall have exclusive
jurisdiction to determine appeals of the findings by the director,
and no court of this state has jurisdiction to review, annul, or
suspend the findings or the liens created thereunder, except as
provided by Article 2 (commencing with Section 5950) of Chapter 7 of
Part 4 of Division 4.
(e) Any claim brought against an employer under this section may
be resolved by the director by compromise and release or stipulated
findings and award as long as the appeals board has acquired
jurisdiction over the employer and the employer has been given notice
and an opportunity to object.
Notice may be given by service on the employer of an appeals board
notice of intention to approve the compromise and release or
stipulated findings and award. The employer shall have 20 days after
service of the notice of intention to file an objection with the
appeals board and show good cause therefor.
If the employer objects, the appeals board shall determine if
there is good cause for the objection.
If the appeals board finds good cause for the objection, the
director may proceed with the compromise and release or stipulated
findings and award if doing so best serves the interest of the
Uninsured Employers Fund, but shall have no cause of action against
the employer under Section 3717 unless the appeals board case is
tried to its conclusion and the employer is found liable.
If the appeals board does not find good cause for the objection,
and the compromise and release or stipulated findings and award is
approved, the Uninsured Employers Fund shall have a cause of action
against the employer pursuant to Section 3717.
(f) The director may adopt regulations to implement and interpret
the procedures provided for in this section.