Industry Updates

AS WILDFIRES continue raging throughout California, Cal/OSHA has issued a reminder to employers that they are required to protect their outdoor workers from smoke if the Air Quality Index exceeds 150. Cal/OSHA has extended an emergency regulation it put in place in August 2019 through January 2021 as it works on a permanent regulation on …

Continue reading “Cal/OSHA Rulemaking – Permanent Wildfire Safety Rules on Tap – OCTOBER 2020”

THE COVID-19 pandemic seems to have reversed years of falling workers’ compensation rates in California, as the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has recommended that average benchmark rates be increased by 2.6% for 2021. The recommendation was forwarded to the California Department of Insurance, which will schedule a hearing on the recommendation in the fall. …

Continue reading “Worker’s Compensation – COVID-19 Prompts Rate Hike Recommendation – OCTOBER 2020”

A NEW LAW has come to the rescue of a number of freelance professions by exempting them from the onerous requirements of AB 5, which required most independent contractors to be classified as employees in California. Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 1 signed AB 2257 as an urgency measure so that it took effect immediately. …

Continue reading “Law Adds Independent Contractor Exemptions – OCTOBER 2020”

GOVERNOR GAVIN Newsom has signed legislation that creates a new framework for COVID-19- related workers’ compensation claims. SB 1159 replaces an executive order that Newsom made on March 18 that required all employees working outside the home who contracted COVID-19 be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if they file a claim. The new law expands that rebuttable presumption” that a coronavirus case is work-related to front-line …

Continue reading “New Law Creates COVID-19 Claim Framework – OCTOBER 2020”

THE NOVEL coronavirus that broke out in the winter has caused immeasurable suffering, both physical and economic. For employers struggling to stay in business, this is a fraught time where mistakes in managing their workforces could lead to employee lawsuits. Here are 10 potential trouble spots to watch for. 1. Workplace safety – Businesses that …

Continue reading “Ten Employee Lawsuit Risks During Covid-19 – July 2020”

DUE TO the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s workers’ compensation rating agency plans to implement a new class code for telecommuting employees on Jan 1, 2021. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California started work on the new classification as companies ordered employees to start working at home after stay-at-home orders were issued to contain the …

Continue reading “Workers’ Compensation – New Telecommuter Class Code in the Works – July 2020”

IF YOUR business is reopening after a relaxation of shelter-in-place orders, you should proceed with caution and make sure you have safeguards in place to protect your workers, as well as customers if they are entering your premises. Here are some recommendations from the Los Angeles Department of Public Health and other sources that can …

Continue reading “Pandemic Transition – How to Reopen, Bring Staff Back to Work Safely – July 2020”

THE DEPARTMENT of Insurance has approved emergency workers’ compensation rules dealing with COVID-19 and California employers. The rules were recommended by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau to bring fairness for employers’ experience rating during the COVID-19 pandemic amid shelter-at-home orders and for dealing with claims of workers who contract COVID-19 on the job. The …

Continue reading “COVID-19 Emergency Rating Changes Take X-MOD – July 2020”

On March 19, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 directing all residents immediately to heed current State public health directives to stay home, except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors and additional sectors as the State Public Health Officer may designate as critical to protect health and well-being …

Continue reading “Essential Workers’ List COVID 19 Workers’ Comp – New Executive Order by Governor Newsom”

THE $2 TRILLION Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act stimulus law has a number of provisions that employers and their workers need to know about and can take advantage of during this crisis. The CARES Act aims to help workers and employers weather the outbreak by: • Extending unemployment benefits. • Requiring health …

Continue reading “CARES ACT – New Law Helps Coronavirus-hit Employers, Workers – April 2020”