Bakersfield WCAB District Office

The Bakersfield WCAB district office is where the California Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) hears workers' comp disputes venued in Kern County. It is a state hearing office, not a private law office, and Yazdchi Law does not operate out of it.

DWC publishes the contact details and hours below for the Bakersfield office. Hours and access details can change, so confirm anything time sensitive on DWC's own Bakersfield office page before you rely on it.

Source: California Division of Workers' Compensation, Bakersfield district office page, checked October 14, 2026. That phone number reaches DWC, not Yazdchi Law. Our office number is (661) 273-1780, and our contact form reaches us directly.

Which cases go to this office?

A case is heard at the Bakersfield WCAB office when the injured worker's home, the place of injury, or the worker's attorney's main office falls in the area this office covers. DWC's own ZIP code records route 147 California ZIP codes to the Bakersfield office, including Bakersfield and the Kern County communities listed below.

California Labor Code section 5501.5 sets the actual filing rule, not a ZIP code search by itself. The statute lets a claim be filed in the county where the injured worker lives on the filing date, the county where the injury happened (or, for a cumulative injury, where the last harmful exposure occurred), or the county where the worker's attorney keeps a main office, when the worker has one:

The application for adjudication of claim shall be filed in any of the following locations: (1) In the county where the injured employee or dependent of a deceased employee resides on the date of filing.

This filing rule has stood since 1990 with no later amendment, so it remains current law. Our guide to Labor Code section 5501.5 and filing venue walks through all three options in more depth, and our explainer on the WCAB's exclusive jurisdiction covers what power the board has once a case is filed.

The DWC ZIP code locator is a helpful starting point, not a venue ruling. DWC itself warns that Disability Evaluation Unit appointments do not always match the office its locator shows, so always confirm a specific hearing or appointment location against your own written notice.

Based on DWC's ZIP code listing, the Bakersfield office serves Bakersfield and these nearby Kern County communities. Our pages for each one cover local filing steps in plain language:

• Bakersfield
• Boron
• California City
• Delano
• Mojave
• Ridgecrest
• Rosamond
• Shafter
• Taft
• Tehachapi
• Wasco

What happens there?

DWC lists two units at this location, the Disability Evaluation Unit and the Information and Assistance Unit, plus the judges who hold hearings there. Most non-trial hearings now run by video, while trials stay in person.

The Disability Evaluation Unit (DEU) rates permanent disability by evaluating medical reports of a worker's impairment, for both litigated and non-litigated claims. The Information and Assistance (I&A) Unit answers general questions about rights, benefits, and forms; DWC's statewide information line is 1-800-736-7401. A judge may set a case for a status conference, a mandatory settlement conference, a priority conference, a lien conference, an expedited hearing, or, if the case does not settle, a trial. Our guides to how a case gets set for hearing and what happens at a trial cover those steps in plain language.

DWC also lists a free injured worker workshop for this office, held by Zoom at 3 p.m. on the first Friday of each month in English and the third Friday of each month in Spanish. Workshop times can change, so confirm the current schedule on DWC's Bakersfield office page before you plan around it.

Can you attend by video or phone?

Yes, for most hearings. DWC moved status conferences, mandatory settlement conferences, priority conferences, and lien conferences to its CourtCall Video Platform starting March 3, 2025. Trials, lien trials, and expedited hearings still happen in person.

Each judge has a virtual courtroom on CourtCall. DWC posts that courtroom's access information on its website and on your hearing notice, and every courtroom also has a call-in number for parties who need one. Do not reuse a number or link from an older hearing; use only the one on your current notice or DWC's Virtual Courtroom Resources page.

How do you get there and park?

DWC says free parking is available in the building's own lot, and the office is reachable by Golden Empire Transit bus or by car using DWC's own driving directions.

DWC's Bakersfield office page links current bus schedules and driving directions rather than printing fixed routes that can change over time. Once inside, visitors wait in the lobby until a court employee or an attorney escorts them through the security door. The lobby itself is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

What should you bring?

Bring the hearing notice or letter DWC sent you, a photo ID, and any documents that notice asks for.

If you are dropping off case-opening paperwork in person for a walk-through instead of mailing it, DWC requires that paperwork by noon the day before your walk-through appointment, under title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, section 10417(d). Walk-through hours at this office are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you need a disability accommodation to take part in a hearing or workshop, DWC's statewide accommodations line is 1-866-681-1459; ask as early as you can.

Yazdchi Law P.C. is based in Palmdale, not Bakersfield, and the firm has no office at the WCAB location. If you have a Kern County workers' comp claim and want help preparing for a hearing at this office, call (661) 273-1780 or use our contact form. We review each matter individually and cannot say in advance whether a particular case is a fit for representation.

See every California WCAB district office in one place, or go directly to our Bakersfield workers' comp lawyer page or our page on appealing a denied Bakersfield claim. Nearby, we also cover Delano and Taft. If your claim was denied anywhere in California, our guide on what to do after a denied workers' comp claim explains the next steps.