A lawsuit pending in a California appeals court threatens to upend a more than century-old workers compensation provision that legal experts say could subject employers to potentially unlimited tort liability and trigger an avalanche of litigation. In the case of…
A judge Friday struck down a California ballot measure that exempted Uber and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services from a state law requiring drivers to be classified as employees eligible for benefits and job protections. Alameda County Superior Court…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that would entitle certain classes of workers to special benefits if they die or become disabled due to COVID-19. A.B. 845, which unanimously passed both the Assembly and Senate, would create a…
Workers compensation claims for COVID-19 in California fell nearly 99% in the past six months from the state’s high of 43,109 coronavirus claims in December, said the California Workers Compensation Institute in a bulletin released Thursday. Monthly counts of COVID-19…
Hot weather significantly increases the risk of workplace accidents and injuries, according to a study released Friday by the University of California-Los Angeles. Using data from California’s workers compensation system from 2001 to 2018 and state weather data, researchers from…
California lawmakers have passed a bill that removes “age” and “genetic characteristics” from the list of protected factors that may not be considered in an injured worker’s apportionment of permanent disability. S.B. 788, which unanimously passed the California Assembly on…
The California Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would reduce time periods for employers to reject workers compensation claims and increase liability for medical treatment. S.B. 335, which passed in a 29-10 vote, would shorten the window an employer has…
A bill that would have extended past 2023 California’s rebuttable presumption for health care workers who contract COVID-19 at work was placed in the state Senate’s inactive file Thursday. Existing law, until Jan. 1, 2023, creates a rebuttable presumption of…
California is set to fully reopen in less than two weeks and do away with virtually all mask and social distancing requirements for vaccinated people. But officials who regulate workplaces in the state aren’t ready to go that far and…
The demand for COVID-19 shots has stalled in the U.S., prompting some employers to implement mandates to get their staff fully vaccinated. However, experts warn that under such mandates, injuries or illnesses reported by employees from the vaccine can lead…