​AB 685 – COVID Reporting

This ​new law provides that if an employer receives a notice of potential exposure to COVID (e.g. notice that an employee has COVID or was exposed to COVID in the workplace), the employer must take all of the following steps
​within ONE BUSINESS DAY of the notice of potential exposure:
  • Provide written notice to all employees, and the employers of subcontracted employees, who were on the premises at the same worksite as the qualifying individual [e.g. an employee who was diagnosed with COVID, ordered to isolate in accordance with an official health order, or died of COVID) within the infectious period that they may have been exposed to COVID.  Written notice should be provided in the manner normally used to communicate employment-related information and may include personal service, email, or text message. 
  • Provide a written notice to the exclusive representative, if any, of the employees.  This notice must include the same information that is required to be reported in a Cal/OSHA Form 300 injury and illness log (regardless of whether the employer is required to maintain such a log). 
  • Provide all employees who may have been exposed and the exclusive representative, if any, with information regarding COVID-related benefits to which the employee may be entitled under applicable federal, state, or local laws, including, but not limited to, workers’ compensation, and options for exposed employees, including COVID-related leave, company sick leave, state-mandated leave, supplemental sick leave, or negotiated leave provisions, as well as anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination protections of the employee. 

Notify all employees, and the employers of subcontracted employees and the exclusive representative, if any, on the disinfection and safety plan that the employer plans to implement and complete per the guidelines of the federal Centers for Disease Control.  

In addition to the foregoing, if an employer is notified that its number of cases meet the definition of a COVID “outbreak,” as defined by the State Department of Public Health, the employer has additional reporting obligations to their local public health agency within 48 hours.
​
The foregoing reporting requirements do not apply to employees who, as part of their duties, conduct COVID testing or screening or provide direct patient care or treatment to individuals who are known to have tested positive for COVID, are persons under investigation, or are in quarantine or isolation related to COVID, unless the qualifying individual is an employee at the same worksite.
 
Employers are required to maintain records of the required employee/union notifications for 3 years.
 
In addition to the foregoing, AB 685 gives Cal/OSHA authority to prohibit certain operations or processes, or even entry into a workplace, if it determines that all or part of a workplace exposes workers to the risk of infection with COVID to constitute an imminent hazard to employees.

SB 1159 – Workers’ Compensation

​On July 6, 2020 SB 1159 signed into law, extending the presumption for illness or injury associated with contracting COVID, by creating a presumption that the illness was work-related. work-related certain classes of workers, and imposing new notice requirements on employers. These new provisions will be codified as Labor Code sections 3212.86-3212.88,
​and take effect immediately as urgency legislation.
​Of first order is that the new law, passed as an emergency measure and effective immediately, requires all employers with 5 or more employees to provide their workers’ compensation carrier with information about employees who tested COVID+ since July 6, 2020 within the next thirty days.

In addition, going forward, employers must report to their carrier within three days of learning that an employee tested COVID+ (excluding personally identifying information about the employee), the date of the test, the place where the employee worked during the 14 days prior to the test and the number of employee at each place where the employee worked for the prior 45 days.

With respect to employees diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 19 and July 5, 2020, the new law codifies the Executive Order and applies to any employee that has a COVID-19 related illness that occurred within 14 days after the last day the person worked.  Such employees qualify for the presumption of Workers’ Compensation coverage requiring an employer to act quickly and accept or deny the claim within 30-days.  If the claim is not denied within 30-days, it is presumed compensable.  Otherwise, the presumption is only rebuttable by evidence discovered after the initial 30-day period.
For employees infected with COVID-19 after July 6, 2020, the law creates two categories of employees with slightly different rules:
  • First, Section 3212.87 provides the presumption of compensable injury to specific first responders and health care professionals.  This section applies to workers if they test positive on or after July 6, 2020 and within 14 days after their last day of work.  Testing must be under a PCR test and does not include employees working from home, except for providers of home supportive services.   Here, an employer has 30 days after the claim is made to accept or deny the claim.  If the claim is not rejected within 30-days, it is presumed to be compensable.  Otherwise, the presumption of industrial injury is only rebuttable by evidence discovered after the initial 30-day period.
  • Second, Section 3212.88 applies to all other employees who test positive during an “outbreak” at the employee’s specific place of employment after July 5, 2020 where the employer has 5 or more employees.  An outbreak is defined for employers with 100 or fewer employees as 4 employees testing positive with PCR tests within a 14 day period, or for employers with more than 100 employees, 4 percent of the employees testing positive in such a period.  Also, an outbreak is deemed to have occurred if the employer is closed by a local health department, OSHA or a school superintendent due to risk of COVID-19 infection.  For these employees, the employer has 45 days to determine compensability from the date of the claim.  If the claim is denied or no decision is made timely, the presumption is only rebuttable by evidence discovered after the initial 45-day period.  Relevant evidence to controvert the presumption includes an employer’s efforts to reduce potential workplace transmission of COVID-19 and evidence of an employee’s other risk factors, and non-occupational risks of COVID-19 infection, i.e. an employee’s activities outside of the workplace.  
​While the new laws do provide some opportunity to rebut the presumption of an industrial injury, employers are encouraged to move swiftly after a claim is made if they believe that the claim may be properly denied.  Likewise, it remains to be seen how an employers’ efforts to reduce transmission factors will be applied in the field after an “outbreak” has occurred.
Benefits for Workers Impacted by COVID-19
State Disability Insurance/Sick or Quarantined
  • If you're unable to work due to medical quarantine or illness related to COVID-19 (certified by a medical professional)
  • The Governor's Executive Order waives the one-week unpaid waiting period, so you can collect benefits for the first week you are out of work.
  • The EDD processes and issues payments within a few weeks of receiving a claim.
  • Short-term benefit payments to eligible workers who have a full or partial loss of wages due to a non-work-related illness, injury, or pregnancy.
  • Approximately 60-70 percent of wages (depending on income); ranges from $50-$1,300 a week for up to 52 weeks. 
  • Learn more about your eligibility for Disability Insurance
  • File a Disability Insurance claim
Workers' Compensation
  • If you are unable to do your usual job because you were exposed to and contracted COVID-19 during the regular course of your work, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. 
  • Benefits include temporary disability (TD) payments, which begin when your doctor says you can't do your usual work for more than three days or you are hospitalized overnight. You may be entitled to TD for up to 104 weeks. TD stops when either you return to work, your doctor releases you for work, or your doctor says your illness has improved as much as it's going to. 
  • TD generally pays two-thirds of the gross wages you lose while you are recovering from a work-related illness or injury, up to maximum weekly amount set by law. In addition, eligible employees are entitled to medical treatment and additional payments if a doctor determines you suffered a permanent disability because of the illness.
  • Learn more about your eligibility for Workers' Compensation benefits
  • ​File a Workers' Compensation claim
Paid Family Leave/Caregiving
  • If you're unable to work because you are caring for an ill or quarantined family member with COVID-19 (certified by a medical professional)
  • Up to six weeks of benefit payments to eligible workers who have a full or partial loss of wages because they need time off work to care for a seriously ill family member.
  • The EDD processes and issues payments within a few weeks of receiving a claim.
  • Approximately 60-70 percent of wages (depending on income); ranges from $50-$1,300 a week for up to 6 weeks.
  • Learn more about your eligibility for Paid Family Leave
  • ​​File a Paid Family Leave claim
Paid Sick Leave
Unemployment Insurance/School Closures
  • If you have lost your job or have had your hours reduced for reasons related to COVID-19
  • If your child’s school is closed, and you have to miss work to be there for them. Considerations include if you have no other care options and if you are unable to continue working your normal hours remotely.
  • Partial wage replacement benefit payments to workers who lose their job or have their hours reduced, through no fault of their own. 
  • Range from $40-$450 per week for up to 26 weeks. 
  • Learn more about your eligibility for Unemployment Insurance
  • File an Unemployment Insurance claim
School Activities/Emergency Leave
​​In California, employers with 25 or more employees working at the same location must permit employees to take time off for certain child-related activities, including to address a child-care provider or school emergency. Such an emergency includes closure or unexpected unavailability of the school or child-care provider.
  • Employees may take up to 40 hours each year for school activities. Employees are limited to eight hours per month for most activities, but that limitation doesn’t apply to emergencies. Thus, employees may be able to use all 40 hours for the current school closures.
  • The parent has a child who attends kindergarten or grades 1 through 12 or is with a licensed childcare provider.
  • The law includes the following-Parent, legal guardian, stepparent, foster parent, grandparent, or person standing in loco parentis to the child.
  • If both parents work for the same employer, only one parent is allowed to take leave at any given time. The parent who files first for leave is given priority. Employers may allow both parents to take leave, but that is up to the employer.
  • A parent is required to provide notice of the intent to take time off from work. 
  • Employers may ask for proof that the employee utilized the time for child related-activities permitted under the law.
  • For purposes of leave, employees are required to use existing vacation days, personal days, or other compensatory time.
  • An employee is also allowed to utilize any time off without pay as provided by the employer
Personal Protective Equipment
Protections at Work for Covid-10

Cal/Osha Website

WORLDOMETER ​COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
John Hopkins Covid-19 Interactive Map Of The World