The Going Rate for Workers’ Comp Reform
By most observations, 2022 will not be a year where the California Legislature entertains “major” workers’ compensation legislation. That is a term used by people to describe a process where …
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Unfinished Business
On September 30, the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) held a virtual meeting. On the agenda was a presentation by RAND on its preliminary research report …
Workers’ Comp Bills Clear House Of Origin Before Deadline
California legislators advanced one bill that would sharply curtail the amount of time employers have to investigate workers’ comp claims and passed two others that expand the state’s presumptions that certain conditions are industrially caused. However, a third presumption measure for the healthcare sector and COVID-19 failed to clear the Senate before the June 4th …
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Newly Published Decision Annuls 100% PD Award
The Sixth District Court of Appeal ordered publication of a decision annulling a 100% permanent and total disability award that was based solely on a psychiatric injury stemming from the sexual abuse by a treating physician. The court remanded the case to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to consider permanent disability issues surrounding the underlying …
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Should the COVID-19 Presumption Be Permanent?
The Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee passed on a 4-1 vote a bill to extend several rebuttable presumptions to frontline workers in acute care hospitals, including a permanent presumption for COVID-19 infections. The bill, SB 213 by committee chair Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), covers a range of infectious diseases, cancers, musculoskeletal injuries, …
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Legislative Agenda Includes Full Card Of AB 5 Exemption Bills
Legislators rushed to beat last week’s deadline for bill introductions and submitted dozens of measures that could impact California’s workers’ comp system. Over two dozen bills seek to carve out new exemptions to last year’s AB 5 legislation. AB 5 is the highly controversial legislation that codified and enlarged the Dynamex decision’s ABC test for …
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Mental Health Presumption Signed, More Data Sought
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill creating a presumption that any diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for peace officers and firefighters is an industrial injury. Key legislative consultants also raised concerns about the likelihood the bill will encourage fraudulent claims that will drive up costs for local governments, but it easily cleared …
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AB 5 an Apparent Disaster
Legislative efforts to codify the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision and its “ABC” test for differentiating between independent contractors and employees are nearly complete. And they are –– says almost everyone –– a complete mess. Gov. Gavin Newsom came out in favor of the bill, sponsored by Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), just days after it …
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