What Is California Labor Code §5803: The WCAB's Continuing Jurisdiction?

At any time, upon notice and after an opportunity to be heard is given to the parties in interest, the appeals board may rescind, alter, or amend any order, decision, or award, good cause appearing therefor. This power includes the right to review, grant or regrant, diminish, increase, or terminate, within the limits prescribed by this division, any compensation awarded, upon the grounds that the disability of the person in whose favor the award was made has either recurred, increased, diminished, or terminated.

What Is Labor Code 5803?

Labor Code 5803 lets the WCAB revisit its own past orders and awards, not only sign new ones.

Most people picture a workers' comp case as finished once a judge signs an award. Labor Code 5803 says otherwise. It gives the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, often called the WCAB or just the Board, a form of ongoing power over that same case file. Later on, the Board can rescind an order, change its terms, or amend it. That only happens for good cause, and only after both sides get notice and a real chance to respond.

This rule applies to anyone with a case the WCAB has already decided. It is not a one-sided worker benefit. An insurance company or employer can also ask the Board to use this power. For example, new medical evidence might show a worker's disability has improved enough that a payment should be lowered or stopped. Either direction works the same way: good cause first, then notice, then a hearing.

How Does Labor Code 5803 Work in a Real Workers' Comp Case?

A party asks the WCAB to change an old order, and the Board decides after both sides are heard.

In practice, Labor Code 5803 usually comes up after a case already has an award, such as a permanent disability rating or a settlement the Board approved. New medical evidence might later show the disability has recurred, grown worse, improved, or ended. Either side can bring that evidence to the WCAB and ask it to use this power. The Board will not act on a whim. It requires good cause, and it requires that every party in interest be told and given a real chance to weigh in before anything changes.

This is different from simply disagreeing with an old decision. The party asking the Board to act needs a real change in circumstances. That change is usually shown through updated medical reports, not just a fresh argument about facts that were already known.

Is There a Deadline on the WCAB's Power to Change an Award?

Yes. Labor Code 5804 generally cuts off this power five years after the worker was hurt.

Labor Code 5803 does not say the Board's power lasts forever. Labor Code 5804 says no award can be rescinded, altered, or amended more than five years after the date of injury. The petition asking for that change must also be filed within those five years. If the other side wants to raise its own issues in response, it generally has 30 days after the original petition to file a counterpetition.

One narrow exception matters here. Once an award has already found that the worker was an employee, and that finding is final (the time to challenge it has passed, or a timely challenge was already decided), the Board cannot later use a petition to reopen as a back door. It cannot use that petition to decide there was no employment after all. The five-year window reopens the disability question. It does not reopen a settled employment question.

How Does Labor Code 5803 Connect to Other WCAB Deadlines?

Labor Code 5803 is one of several ways to revisit a WCAB decision, and each path has its own timing.

California workers' comp law gives parties more than one path back to the WCAB. It helps to know which path applies. A worker with a specific new or worsening disability also has a separate right under Labor Code 5410 to reopen a claim, within that same five-year period. A party who disagrees with a decision right after it is issued instead files a petition for reconsideration on specific legal grounds, subject to a short filing deadline measured in days, not years. If reconsideration is denied, the next step can be asking a California court to review the Board's final decision. None of these paths replace Labor Code 5803's continuing jurisdiction. The law is explicit that a reconsideration deadline does not limit the Board's separate continuing jurisdiction over its own awards.

What Should You Save Before Asking the WCAB to Use Labor Code 5803?

Save the original award, dated medical records, and proof of what changed.

Keep a copy of the original order, decision, or award. Keep every medical report from before and after it was issued too. Dates matter under this statute, since the Board looks at whether the disability recurred, grew worse, lessened, or ended over time. The five-year clock in Labor Code 5804 runs from when the injury happened, not from when you first notice a change. If an insurer or employer serves you with its own petition under Labor Code section 5803, do not ignore it. Note the date you received it, and bring it to a California workers' compensation attorney quickly, since you may need to respond.

If you think your disability has changed since your last WCAB order, the facts and dates matter more than general advice. The same is true if you were served with a petition asking the Board to change that order. Call (661) 273-1780 to reach Yazdchi Law P.C., or start with our contact form. The firm reviews each matter individually before deciding how to proceed. If your underlying claim was denied instead of a past award being revisited, see what to do after a California workers' comp claim denial.