Increasingly common in California are workers compensation claims involving cumulative trauma in which causation is questionable, the claim may have been filed after the injured worker is terminated or quits, and the claimant’s doctor later adds additional diagnoses. According to…

Since 2014, the percentage of indemnity claims involving a major surgery in the first two years has declined one percentage point per year, falling from 28% of the 2014 claims to 23% of the 2019 claims, according to a study…

Climate change has hit states’ workers compensation systems, as more severe weather patterns, wildfires and other incidents have resulted in lost worker hours and had detrimental effects on mental health, among other things, a panel of experts said. After a…

Non-emergency regulations designed to keep California workers safe from COVID-19 were approved Saturday and will be enforceable for the next two years. California’s Department of Industrial Relations announced that the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations requiring employers to protect workers from…

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation on Friday announced that new rules allowing an additional 30 days to schedule a medical-legal evaluation are now in effect. The Office of Administrative Law approved the rules, and they took effect on Thursday…

The treatment request denials for injured workers in California that were overturned most often in 2021 were for behavioral and mental health services, with 15% overturned, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division…

It takes seven years to close 90% of workers compensation claims in California compared with three years for the median state, according to a study released Tuesday by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. WCIRB attributes the longer time it…

California employers will have less time to accept liability on certain presumptive injury claims and face penalties of up to $50,000 for unreasonably denying them, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday. The governor also extended the…

An Oregon State University study found an association with increasing temperatures and increased rates of injury claims that were more pronounced among workers in the agricultural and construction sectors. The study analyzed about 92,000 accepted claims and found that the…

A California appellate court ruled that an employer was not entitled to compel an injured worker to provide discovery responses to inquiries into his immigration status. Rigoberto Jose Manuel worked for BrightView Landscape Services Inc. In January 2018, he allegedly…