State Fund Today
Recent Changes to COVID-19 Reporting
Employers have faced numerous challenges over the last few years, since the emergence of COVID-19. We appreciate your assistance in helping your clients adhere to ever-changing rules and regulations to keep workers safe and keep businesses in compliance.
In case you haven’t heard, some COVID-19 reporting requirements have been relaxed as of January 1, 2024.
Employers are no longer required to report COVID-19 positive tests to their claims administrator for the purposes of determining if a COVID-19 outbreak occurred at a place of employment.
However, employers are still required to:
- Report claims of a COVID-19illness just like any other claim of an industrial injury
- Adhere to their COVID-19 reporting obligations to other agencies (i.e. Cal/OSHA)
COVID-19 is no longer a presumptive injury. A worker may still claim a COVID-19 injury, but it will no longer be presumed as a work-related illness and will be considered a regular claim. Previously, if a certain number of employees at a specific place of employment tested positive for COVID-19 within a specified period, and an employee’s positive test occurred within this specified period, then a workers’ compensation claim filed by the employee was presumed to be work related and the employee would have been eligible for benefits.
The shortened liability decision timeframes for a claimed COVID-19 injury of 30/45 days will revert back to the 90-day liability decision timeframe.
Find more information about these regulation changes. If you have any questions about COVID-19 reporting requirements, please reach out to customer support at (888) 782-8338.