Earlier today, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order extending workers’ compensation insurance coverage to essential workers who test positive for coronavirus or are diagnosed with COVID-19 by a physician. The order establishes a rebuttable presumption that any essential worker contracted the virus on the job and is, therefore, eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. This presumption effectively places the burden of proof on companies or insurers to prove that the essential worker did not get sick at work in order to permissibly deny coverage. The order applies retroactively, applying benefits to essential employees who have been infected anytime since March 19th, and will extend for 60 days from today’s issuance of the order to July 5, 2020.
The full text of Executive Order N-62-20 can be found here.
