For Christina Nester, the pandemic lull in Massachusetts lasted about three months through summer into early fall. In late June, St. Vincent Hospital had resumed elective surgeries, and the unit the 48-year-old nurse works on switched back from taking care of only COVID-19 patients to its pre-pandemic roster of patients recovering from gallbladder operations, mastectomies and other surgeries.

That is, until October, when patients with coronavirus infections began to reappear on the unit and, with them, the fear of many more to come. “It’s paralyzing, I’m not going to lie,” said Nester, who’s worked at the Worcester hospital for nearly two decades. “My little clan of nurses that I work with, we panicked when it started to uptick here.”

Adding to that stress is that nurses are caught betwixt caring for the bedside needs of their patients and implementing policies set by others, such as physician-ordered treatment plans and strict hospital rules to ward off the coronavirus. The push-pull of those forces, amid a fight against a deadly disease, is straining this vital backbone of health providers nationwide, and that could accumulate to unsustainable levels if the virus’s surge is not contained this winter, advocates and researchers warn.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article247400615.html

Contact Sacramento workers compensation attorney for Help

Have you suffered a serious work injury? Contact our work compensation attorneys for FREE consultation about your California workers compensation claim benefits. We’ve been helping injured workers since 1987 and are certified by the State Bar of California.

Give us a call at (916) 930-9675 to speak with a Sacramento workers compensation attorney today.

The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA), whose members represent Californians who get injured at work, released the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of an executive order today that helps protect frontline workers who contract COVID-19 on the job:

“We applaud Governor Newsom for enacting an executive order to ensure essential workers are protected under California’s workers’ compensation system should they contract COVID-19 on the job.

Millions of workers across California are battling on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, risking their lives simply by going to work. These heroes deserve to know they’ll be protected and have the safety net of workers’ compensation to take care of their medical needs if they get infected with the coronavirus.

Our workers’ compensation system might be the only remedy for some of these workers who may not have employer-sponsored health insurance or may not have a viable health plan that would cover such a disease without leaving them bankrupt. Ensuring medical treatment, disability indemnity and death benefits are covered for all essential workers is simply the right thing to do.

This order provides immediate relief to all essential workers who have been or will be diagnosed with COVID-19 during the covered period and removes a tremendous amount of doubt in workers’ minds about medical treatment and supplemental income should they become ill.

We thank Governor Newsom for supporting our frontline heroes and ensuring that all essential employees who contract COVID-19 while on the job can get fast and effective health care through no expense of their own.”

Governor Newsom’s executive order enacts a rebuttable presumption that presumes a worker filing a workers’ compensation claim for COVID-19 contracted the disease while on the job. The order covers all essential service workers and will be applied retroactively beginning March 19, 2020, the date of Governor Newsom’s first shelter-in-place order, expiring 60 days from today.

Workers’ compensation benefits covered under the order include temporary disability for up to 2 years, permanent disability benefits for any long-term/permanent injuries or disability caused by COVID-19, and death benefits including $10,000 in funeral expenses and anywhere between 120,000 to $250,000 or more (depending on number of minor dependents at time of death).

The order also shortens the time employers have to accept claims from 90 days to 30 days, significantly expediting the processing of benefits for sick workers.

Contact Sacramento workers compensation attorney for Help

Have you suffered a serious work injury? Contact our work compensation attorneys for FREE consultation about your California workers compensation claim benefits. We’ve been helping injured workers since 1987 and are certified by the State Bar of California.

Give us a call at (916) 930-9675 to speak with a Sacramento workers compensation attorney today.

The California Labor & Workforce Development Agency has released updated information and resources for workers and employers impacted by COVID-19.

• Visit their website for more information: labor.ca.gov/coronavirus2019

In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor has released updated information to help with recent nationally enacted legislation, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

• For more information, visit their website here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic

FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT: EMPLOYER PAID LEAVE REQUIREMENTS

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. [1] The Department of Labor’s (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces the new law’s paid leave requirements. These provisions will apply from the effective date through December 31, 2020.

Generally, the Act provides that covered employers must provide to all employees: [2]

• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because the employee is unable to work because of a bona fide need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), or care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor.

A covered employer must provide to employees that it has employed for at least 30 days: [3]• Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee is unable to work due to a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.

• Read more: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/Pandemic/FFCRA-Employee_Paid_Leave_Requirements.pdf

FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT: EMPLOYEE PAID LEAVE RIGHTS

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The Department of Labor’s (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces the new law’s paid leave requirements. These provisions will apply from the effective date through December 31, 2020.

Generally, the Act provides that employees of covered employers are eligible for:

• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because the employee is unable to work because of a bona fide need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), or to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor; and
• Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of paywhere an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work due to a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19

• Read more: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/Pandemic/FFCRA-Employee_Paid_Leave_Rights.pdf

Contact Workers Comp Attorney in Sacramento for Help

Have you suffered a serious work injury? Contact our work compensation attorneys for FREE consultation about your California workers compensation claim benefits. We’ve been helping injured workers since 1987 and are certified by the State Bar of California.

Give us a call at (916) 930-9675 to speak to a work comp attorney in Sacramento now.

Insurance Commissioner Lara Issues Alert About Immigrant Workers’ Eligibility for Workers’ Compensation Benefits for COVID-19 Exposure or Illness

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today alerted insurance companies that all workers affected by COVID-19 on the job are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits regardless of their immigration status. This includes workers engaged in front-line occupations such as health care, emergency services, food production, sales, and delivery, among others.

“This unprecedented pandemic has sparked questions and concerns among essential workers in the immigrant community who are showing up for work every day, bringing us vital goods and services,” Commissioner Lara said. “Hard-working Californians who are exposed to COVID-19 are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if they fall ill, regardless of their immigration status.”

Commissioner Lara issued a Notice to remind insurance companies, agents, and employers that California law requires the payment of workers’ compensation benefits to injured workers regardless of their immigration status. His action supports Governor Gavin Newsom’s March 12 executive order stating that workers may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if they were exposed to or contracted COVID-19 on the job.

Read more: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2020/release036-2020.cfm

Contact Workers Comp Attorney in Sacramento for Help

Have you suffered a serious work injury? Contact our work compensation attorneys for FREE consultation about your California workers compensation claim benefits. We’ve been helping injured workers since 1987 and are certified by the State Bar of California.

Give us a call at (916) 930-9675 to speak to a work comp attorney in Sacramento now.

If California wants to increase unemployment insurance benefits to help workers cope with the economic fallout from the new coronavirus, the higher payments could be delayed up to a year because the state employment department isn’t prepared for the job.

A new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found the information technology systems at California’s Employment Development Department, which adminsters unemployment benefits, are limited in what they can currently do.

“Due to the limitations of (the Employment Development Department’s) current information technology systems, changing (unemployment insurance) benefit levels—for instance, by increasing the maximum weekly benefit amount or setting a minimum weekly benefit floor—could take as long as a year to implement,” the analysts wrote.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article241470456.html

Contact Workers Comp Attorney in Sacramento for Help

Have you suffered a serious work injury? Contact our work compensation attorneys for FREE consultation about your California workers compensation claim benefits. We’ve been helping injured workers since 1987 and are certified by the State Bar of California.

Give us a call at (916) 930-9675 to speak to a work comp attorney in Sacramento now.