Beginning 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.

Employers are still required to:

• Report claims of a COVID-19 injury 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 will no longer be 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.

As a result of these changes, the COVID-specific email COVID@scif.com and fax number (800) 325-1284, used to report your cases to us, will no longer be available after Jan.1, 2024.

You can find the Cal/OSHA regulations that are still in effect at Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Regulation Updates on our safety site, www.SafeAtWorkCA.com.