Occupational COVID-19 Exposure Legislation

In the course of the past several months, new workers’ compensation legislation and Cal/OSHA rules for workplace safety emergency standards were put forward. These new laws and regulations will impact how your school and employees will be affected due to potential exposure to COVID-19 in their work environment. These statutes and regulations are extensive, so we can’t go into detail in this short Trending Topics article. However, Keenan has produced more detailed information in our Briefings on Senate Bill 1159, Assembly Bill 685 and Cal/OSHA’s new Workplace Safety Standards.

SB 1159 was signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 17, 2020 and became effective immediately. This law creates a rebuttable statutory presumption, for defined categories of employees, that cases of COVID-19 arise out of and in the course of employment for workers’ compensation purposes. Upon learning of a positive COVID-19 test, the employer must report required information to their workers’ compensation claims administrator within three business days by email or fax. The claims administrator must use this information to determine if an outbreak of the disease occurred for the purpose of administering a claim.

"New laws impact how COVID-19 exposure affects workers’ compensation."

AB 685 imposes new obligations on employers if an employee is exposed to COVID-19. In brief, if your school as an employer receives a “notice of potential exposure” of a “qualifying individual” (as those terms are defined in the statutes), you will be required to take all of the following actions within one business day:

• Provide written notice to employees and subcontractors who were on the same worksite as the qualifying individual, as well as the exclusive representative of those employees.
• Provide information about COVID-19-related benefits individuals may be entitled to under federal, state or local law, including workers’ compensation, sick leave and negotiated leave, as well as antiretaliation and antidiscrimination protections.
• Notify all personnel and the exclusive representative of the worksite disinfection and safety plan to be implemented.

For schools, Keenan is working with the Division of Workers’ Compensation to clarify school-related provisions. School police don’t fall under the same type of presumption for other peace officers, and school nurses are considered differently from health care workers in a health care facility. Leave provisions (both statutory and COVID-19-specific) will also need to be coordinated with workers’ compensation.

Keenan invites you to a webinar on Wednesday, December 16, from 12:00 to 1:30 Pacific to help answer the most frequently asked questions about compliance with these new requirements. For more information, and to register, click here.