An employee is injured on the job while working for an employer who has unlawfully failed to obtain workers' compensation insurance. Under California Labor Code §3706, the injured employee may:

Explanation

§3706 removes the bargain that makes workers' compensation an exclusive remedy: if the employer fails to secure the payment of compensation, the injured employee or the dependents may bring an action at law against that employer for damages as if the division did not apply. §3708 then stacks the deck, and deliberately — in such an action the injury is presumed to be a direct result of the employer's negligence with the burden on the employer to rebut it, and contributory negligence, assumption of risk and the negligence of a fellow servant are all unavailable as defences, with no contract able to restore them. §3716(a) supplies the parallel route: where the employer does not pay an award, the director pays it from the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund. That is why (a) and (b) both understate the remedy, and why (d) points at the wrong security — the licence bond has its own beneficiaries under B&P §7071.5 and is not a substitute for workers' compensation.