Today, we're gonna be talking about the fact that many states have made laws that presume COVID-19 was contracted at work and makes you liable via workers' comp for any contraction of COVID-19. We're gonna talk about that and we're gonna talk about how to fight back against that argument and what would happen if you were to have a claim. First though, please subscribe to our podcast. You can find us on iTunes, Google podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, pretty much any podcatcher of your choice. You can also subscribe to peopleprocesses.com, which will give you exclusive subscriber-only content. 

Now, let's dive into this. California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order creating what they're calling a rebuttable presumption to receive workers' compensation benefits, that employees who test positive for COVID-19 contracted the virus at work. Now, what that means is they have created an executive order that says, if you got COVID-19 and tested positive, there is a presumption that you contracted the virus at work. But it can be refuted or argued against given very specific requirements and we'll go over those in a second. This is called  N-62-20 (https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/5.6.20-EO-N-62-20-text.pdf) . Its link at peopleprocesses.com. You can click on the words it'll go to the website, you can read the executive order. California has become the latest state in a line to expand these workers' compensation benefits to the employees during the pandemic. 

We tuned into a webinar to hear McGuireWoods which is a law firm partner Sabrina Beldner, and her colleague in the firm's labor and employment practices explained that states such as Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin, have all enacted orders similar to California's. That seems to be a national trend. Again, that's Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and now California. "Like California, other states have taken actions to expand workers' compensation benefits to employees or create a presumption that employees contracted COVID-19 in the course of their employment to obtain workers' compensation benefits," says Ms. Beldner. Also, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and Vermont are among the jurisdictions where the efforts are pending to enact a similar presumption in favor of employees who have contracted COVID-19. 

According to Beldner, the state order means that employers across the country who may want to rebut that presumption should implement considerable best practices, including:

I'm going to go through these one at a time. 

Establish a COVID-19 workplace health and safety policy that complies with OSHA and any applicable state or city health and safety mandates. 

Establish a policy that specifies the frequency with which common areas and frequently touched surfaces will be sanitized and disinfected. Many companies have increased the amount of frequency that they do these things, but they have not documented them. 

Implement workplace safety features, such as requiring frequent hand washing, face coverings when interacting with other employees or customers, and social distancing. 

Provide employees with personal protective equipment, such as masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. 

Require daily temperature checks and reporting of symptoms. 

Prohibit any individual who demonstrates symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19 from entering the workplace. 

Required daily inquiries of employees regarding exposure to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, such as family members, friends, or neighbors.

And most importantly, track and retain all the prior information (in a method that protects confidentiality) to be able to...