San Bernardino County, statewide rules
San Bernardino is in San Bernardino County, and California workers' compensation is a statewide system. The rules that decide whether an injury is covered, what has to be reported, and how long you have to act are the same here as in any other California county.
When it is worth calling
An accepted claim is still worth a conversation. When benefits are arriving and treatment is being approved, the question changes rather than disappears: is everything you are entitled to actually reaching you? Insurers usually provide what they are required to provide, and an advocate reading the file can find what is missing. The conversation is more urgent when the claim is denied, when weeks pass and nobody calls back, when treatment requests keep coming back refused, when you are sent to a doctor you did not choose, when you are told to return to work your body cannot do, or when your hours disappear right after you report.
Report it, then get care
Tell your employer about the injury, in writing where possible, and get medical care. Say clearly that it happened at work, because a provider records what you tell them and that first note travels with the file. Keep your own copies as well: the claim form, anything you sign, the names of who you spoke with and when, and the dates you were kept off work. People rarely regret keeping too much paper, and often regret keeping none of it.
General deadlines to keep in mind
A work injury should generally be reported to the employer within thirty days, and a claim generally has to be filed within one year. Both are general rules that have exceptions, and the date the clock starts is not always the date you remember. If any of this is close for you, ask about your specific situation instead of deciding on your own.
What working with us looks like
Our office is in Palmdale, not San Bernardino, and we serve San Bernardino County remotely — phone, text, and video — with in-person meetings in Palmdale by appointment. We work in English and Spanish, and California workers' compensation covers employees regardless of immigration status. The case evaluation is free, you pay nothing up front, and attorney fees in a California workers' compensation case must be approved by a workers' compensation judge, so nothing about the fee happens quietly or without review.