The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board unanimously adopted emergency temporary standards on Thursday to protect workers from hazards related to COVID-19. The emergency standards will be in effect immediately if approved by the Office of Administrative Law in the next…
The California Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that the 2021 minimum and maximum temporary total disability rates will increase on Jan. 1, 2021. The minimum TTD rate will increase from $194.91 to $203.44 and the maximum TTD rate will increase…
The pandemic negatively affected both medical costs and indemnity for workers with soft tissue injuries, according to a study released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California. Researchers from Oakland, California-based WCIRB analyzed indemnity claims for work-related…
Only one-in-14 COVID-19 cases involving working-age Californians from May through September of 2020 has been claimed as a job injury, while only 1-in-25 COVID-19 deaths among working age individuals has been claimed to be work-related according to a new California…
A new California requirement that employers report to their workers compensation insurers any COVID-19 cases, whether work-related or not, has led to concerns that employers will struggle to comply. S.B. 1159, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Sept….
Gov. Newsom has passed legislation that shortens reporting time and expands workers’ compensation. As the COVID-19 pandemic draws on, California continues to pass new legislation to protect employees. Both SB 1159 and AB 685 expand workers compensation and reporting while…
The California workers’ compensation COVID-19 claim count continued to grow in August, albeit at a much slower rate than in July, with new data showing that as of Sept. 21, the state had recorded 5,130 COVID-19 claims with August injury…
Employers nationwide are following the legislative push to accept COVID-19 claims by presumption in workers compensation, changes that aren’t necessarily guaranteeing that such infectious disease claims will be greenlighted but instead promise a surge in litigation and confusion, experts say….
Workers compensation medical payments and claims with an opioid prescription in California continued to decline in 2019, according to a study released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. California’s workers comp system made $2 billion in medical payments…
California lawmakers passed legislation late Monday that would extend Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive making it easier for essential workers to receive workers compensation if they contact COVID-19 on the job. S.B. 1159 passed the state’s Assembly 69-4 and the Senate…