On May 6, 2020 California Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order that is effective 3/19/2020 through 7/5/2020 directing changes to the processing of Workers’ Compensation (WC) in California with regard to COVID-19. This Order created a rebuttable presumption of compensability for any employee who was diagnosed with COVID-19 within 14 days of performing work outside their home at the employer’s direction, thereby creating the potential for WC coverage for treatment of COVID-19 for many California employees.
In addition to creating a rebuttable presumption of compensability, the Order also drastically reduced an employer’s period to investigate the claim, from 90 days down to 30 days.
In our previous blog posts about Workers’ Compensation and COVID-19 we clarified that any WC claims presenting with COVID-19 would be considered on a case-by-case basis. While this is still the case nationally, in California the burden has now shifted to the employer to rebut the compensability of the infection with regard to COVID-19.
If any production employees paid through Cast & Crew report COVID-19 diagnosis or positive tests, productions MUST complete and submit to Cast & Crew the Injury and Illness report. Productions must also provide a CA DWC-1 to employees reporting such illness. The Workers’ Compensation at Cast & Crew team will then evaluate to ensure the conditions are met for WC. As this new ruling is evolving there may be additional follow up needed for these special cases.
Workers’ Compensation claims should continue to be reported to our Workers’ Compensation team at workcomp@castandcrew.com or through our encrypted Stars Intake app (click here for instructions).
Many other states are considering similar rulings or legislation, so if you have any Cast & Crew paid employee illnesses where you are unsure if WC should apply, please reach out so that we can assist you to ensure employees get appropriate care and access to WC if appropriate.
We are here to help, so please reach out to our Workers’ Compensation team at workcomp@castandcrew.com with any questions.
Thank you, The Cast & Crew Risk Management Team