An Update on SB 1159 Covid 19 & Work Comp Reporting

I wanted to share a few more details on SB 1159. It’s going to be with us until January 1st, 2023. Make sure you have the reporting form.

Any employers with four or fewer employees are going to be exempt from any sort of reporting (or if your employees are fully telecommuting).

It’s not going to presume that your employee that has contracted COVID is going to automatically be a COVID claim. I’m not sure what the state is going to do with the report, but they want the information. The employees that it’s going to be presumed for are those who are in the medical field (first responders, EMTs, firefighters, hospital workers, etc.) If those employees test positive for COVID-19, it’s going to be presumed that they were infected at the workplace and therefore ARE a workers comp claim.

If your employee says, “I can’t come to work today, I’ve tested positive for COVID-19,” you have three days as an employer to fill out the reporting form and get that to your workers comp carrier. If you do this, you’ll avoid the $10,000 non-reporting fine.

I hope this adds a bit of clarity. Thanks for partnering with us — we’re here to specialize so you don’t have to. Let us know if you have any questions.