California makes it easier to receive workers' comp for coronavirus claims

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday that will make it easier for essential workers who contract COVID-19 to obtain workers’ compensation benefits in a win for labor unions that called for the change.

The order streamlines workers’ compensation claims and establishes a rebuttable presumption that any essential workers infected with COVID-19 contracted the virus on the job, Newsom said. In effect, the change shifts the burden of proof that typically falls on workers and instead requires companies or insurers to prove that the employees didn’t get sick at work.

“This workers’ comp presumption is so important, because we want people to feel confident, comfortable, they’ll have their benefits,” Newsom said. “The whole idea is, as we move into this second phase, we want to keep workers healthy and keep them safe.”

Newsom announced a four-phase plan last week to gradually transition back to normal. The second phase begins Friday with the reopening of some retail businesses for curbside pickup.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-06/newsom-workers-compensation-coronavirus-claims-covid19-presumption-california