WCDefenseCA

Happy Monday, dear readers!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and for those of you employed in work places that recognized Columbus Day (or, in some cases, “indigenous people day”), may your weekend continue its enjoyment.

As for us, that neither celebrate that great explorer, nor celebrate the great people he explored, today is another day at work.  So, dear readers, what say you – is this a “holiday” in the sense of workers compensation?

Let’s talk about holidays in general.

Whether something is a “holiday” or not is a very serious question, because it can have very serious consequences for your deadlines: if the last day to do something falls on a holiday, you get an extra day.  (California Rules of Court section 1.10(b) “[u]nless otherwise provided by law, if the last day for the performance of any act that is required by these rules to be performed within a specific period of time falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday, the period is extended to and includes the next day that is not a holiday.”)

Meanwhile, if a holiday falls on a Saturday, it is observed on the previous Friday, while if the holiday falls on a Sunday, it is observed on the following Monday (Rule 1.11).

So, what is a “holiday”?  California Government Code section 6700 provides a list of holidays for California, including: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Lincoln Day, President’s Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day (like today), Veterans Day, Christmas Day, and Thanksgiving day.    (See also, Guild v. Bank of America (1999) 64 CCC 175, footnote 2, Unpublished).

Are these holidays applicable to the WCAB?   Well, the California Rules of Court seems to refer to the several section which include Rule 1.10, as “Rules Applicable to All Courts,” so presumably the WCAB would also be bound by this logic.

So, dear readers, those of you planning to celebrate “Greg Grinberg is Awesome Day,” (a festival growing in popularity) or any religious or cultural holidays not recognized by section 6700 of the California Government Code, would do well to note that this does not count as a holiday for deadline purposes.  While it may provide reasonable grounds for obtaining a continuance for a court calendar date, it is not going to get you off the hook for failing to timely file papers.

Happy [second Monday in October] Day!